CIHM 
Microfiche 
Series 
(Monographs) 


ICIVIH 

Collection  de 
microfiches 
(monographles) 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  canadien  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes  /  Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  Instilute  has  attempted  tc  ctta  "  :",c-  test  :rz^a 
copy  available  for  filming.  Features  r'  ths  copy  vv'~  en 
may  be  bibliographically  unique,  which  may  alter  ary  cf 
the  images  m  the  reproduction,  or  which  may 
significantly  change  the  usual  method  of  filming  are 
checked  below. 


C7 


D 

D 

D 


Coloured  covers  / 
Couverture  de  couleur 

Covers  damaged  / 
Couverture  endommagee 

Covers  restored  and/or  laminated  / 
Couverture  restauree  e^■ou  pelliculee 

Cover  title  missing  /  Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

Coloured  maps  /  Cartes  geographiques  en  couleur 

Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)  / 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations  / 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

Bound  with  other  material  / 
Relie  avec  d'autres  documents 

Only  edition  available  / 
Seule  edition  disponible 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion  along 
interior  margin  /  La  reliure  serree  peut  causer  de 
I'ombre  ou  de  la  distorsion  le  long  de  la  marae 
interieure. 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restorations  may  appear 
within  the  text.  V\/henever  possible,  these  have  been 
omitted  from  filming  /  Use  peut  que  certames  pages 
blanches  ajoutees  lors  d'une  restaurat'on 
apparaissent  dans  le  texte,  mais,  lorsque  cela  etait 
possible,  ces  pages  n'ont  pas  ete  filmees. 

Additional  comments  / 
Commentaires  supplemenlaires: 


L'Institut  a  microfilme  le  meiNeur  exemplaire  qu'h  iji  a 
ete  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details  de  cet  exem- 
plaire qui  sont  peut-etre  uniques  ciu  point  de  vue  bibli- 
ographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier  une  image  reproduite. 
ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une  modification  dans  la  metho- 
de  normale  de  filmage  sont  mdiques  ci-dessous. 

j j    Coloured  pages  /  Pages  de  couleur 

j ■    Pages  damaged  /  Pages  endommagees 

j      I    Pages  restored  and/or  laminated  / 
'■ 1    Pages  restaurees  el'ou  pelliculees 

j     J   Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed  / 
L^    Pages  decolorees,  tachetees  ou  piquees 


D 

□ 


Pages  detached  /  Pages  detachees 

Showlhrough  /  Transparence 

Quality  of  print  varies  / 
Qualite  inegale  de  I'lmpression 


"l    Includes  supplementary  material  / 
J    Co.nprend  du  materiel  supplementaire 


n 


Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata  slips, 
tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to  ensure  the  best 
possible  image  /  Les  pages  tofalement  ou 
partiellement  obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une 
pelure,  etc.,  ont  ete  filmees  a  nouveau  de  fa^on  a 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


!      I    Opposing  pages  with  varying  colouration  or 

' '   discolourations  are  filmed  twice  to  ensure  the  best 

possible  image  /  Les  pages  s'opposant  ayant  des 
colorations  variables  ou  des  decolorations  sont 
filmees  deux  fois  afin  d'obtenir  la  meilleure  image 
possible. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below  / 

Ce  document  est  filme  au  taux  de  reduction  indique  ci-dessous. 


10x 


14x 


18x 


22x 


26x 


30x 


12x 


16x 


20x 


24x 


28x 


32x 


The  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

National  Library  of  Canada 


L'  exemplaire  filme  fuf  reproduit  grace  a  la 
generosite  de: 

Bibliotheque  Rationale  du  Canada 


This  title  was  microfilmed  with  the  generous 
permission  of  the  rights  holder: 

Chase  S.  Osborn  V  (great-great-grandson) 


Ce  titre  a  ete  microfilme  avec  I'aimable  autorisation 
du  detenteur  des  droits: 

Chase  S.  Osborn  V  (great-gr^'at-grandson) 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility  of 
the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the  filming 
contract  specifications. 

Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on  the 
last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impression,  or 
the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All  other  original 
copies  are  filmed  oeginning  on  the  first  page  with  a 
pnnted  or  illustrated  impression,  and  ending  on  the 
last  page  with  a  pnnted  or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche  shall 
contain  the  symbol  •^(meaning  "CONTINUED"),  or 
the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"),  whichever  applies. 

Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed  begin- 
ning in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to  right  and 
top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as  required.  The 
following  diagrams  illustrate  the  method: 


Les  images  suivantes  ont  ete  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et  de 
la  nettete  de  I'exemplaire  filme,  et  en  conformite 
avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de  filmage. 

Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprimee  sont  filmes  en  commen<pant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
derniere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte  d'im- 
pression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second  plat, 
selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires  origin- 
aux sont  filmes  en  commengant  par  la  premiere 
page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte  d'impression  ou 
d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par  la  derniere  page 
qui  comporte  une  telle  empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
derniere  image  de  chaque  microfiche,  selon  le  cas- 
le  symbole  -»  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le  symbole  V 
signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  etre 
filmes  a  des  taux  de  reduction  differents.  Lorsque 
le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  etre  reproduit  en 
un  seul  cliche,  il  est  filme  a  partir  de  I'angle 
superieur  gauche,  de  gauche  a  droite,  et  de  haut 
en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre  d 'images 
necessaire.   Les  diagrammes  suivants  illustrent  la 
methode. 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

MICROCOPY    RESOLUTION    TEST    CHART 

ANSI  and   ISO  TEST  CHART  No    2 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


*"  IIIIM 

4„: 


13.2 


•-     13  6 
I-      i^ 


1.4 


2.5 

[2.2 

1 2.0 
1.8 

1.6 


A  -^PPL-IED  IIVMGE     Inc 

^^  "bt-5    LOS'    Wa.r>    S'-e*-' 

■^5  (""6,1    ^82  ^    030C  -  Phone 

^S  ("6)    288  -  5989  -  ra« 


THE  IRON  HUNTER 


o. 


K.JVoL"^^*"^'^  COMPANY 

ATLANTA  •   IAN  FRANasCO 

''.^ov.""  "-^^   *   CO-.   L.-.T.O 

«-0N:'0M  •   1.0M.AV  .   CALCWA 

"•^LBOLIINI 

Tili:  MACMILLAN  to.  OF  CANADA.  Vro. 


^fy  niotlior 
^Nrnrffarot  Ann  Fnnnoii  Oshorn 


/ttc 


THE  IKON  HUNTEK 


BY 
CHASE  S.  OSBORN 

Author  of  "Tbe  Aodcu  Lud" 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 


1919 

^«  TighU  Ttitrved 


'V 


coptsight,  1910 
bt  the  MACMILLAN  compakt 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Publithed  May,  1919, 


TO 
M.  F.  H. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 
I 

II 

III 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

VIII 

IX 

X 

XI 

XII 

xm 


WOL^'ES  —  III- MAN   AND  OTHERWISE    , 

What's  in  Yolr  Name  oh  Mine?  ,     , 

Natiral  Born  Rkbei.s      .     .     . 

Poverty    that    Cramps    and    then    Ex- 
pands the  Soll  .... 

Wii,n  Boyhood  Dreams  Fill  My  Mind  and 
I  Act  Upon  Them 

SwEiT   Into  the   Human    Maelstrom    of 
Chicago 

I  Drive  a  Coal  Wagon  — Pile  Limber  — 
Caitlre  a  Mlrdeukr  and  Dock  Wallop 

in    MlLWAlKEE        .        .        . 


rAOE 
1 

.     15 

.     22 


37 


48 


60 


68 


Married  on  Credit  I  Give  My  Bride  a 
Five  Cent  Boiquet  and  We  Take  a 
WEDDiNf,  Trip  on  a  Street  Car     ...     81 

I  Undertake  the  Study  of  Iron  Ore  and 
ExcacF  i\  Exploration  and  Prospecting     89 

My  First  Trip  Into  the  Trackless  Wilds 
of  Unexplored  Canada 94 

Charmed  by  the  Beauty  of  Sault  De 
Sainte  Marie  and  Fascinated  yh  its  En- 
virons I  Choose  it  as  a  Home  for  Life  102 

I  Am  Used  as  a  Political  Fulcrum  by 
-Tav  TIunBELL  TO  Pnv  Ovr  Sam  Stephfn- 
^^         113 

The  Sxcripke  of  (;enkrai  Alger  to  Ap- 
pease Pomticm:  Bi.oon  Howlers  .      .      .121 


COSTESrs 

CHAPTEI 

XIV    My  Association  with  Hazen   S.  Pin(;ree'^*°' 
Plunges  Me  Into  Politics  Deeper  than 
EvEK 127 

XV    I  Become  a  Candidate  for  Governor  to 

Slcceed  Hazek  S.  Plngree  ....     137 
XVI    The  Poetry,  Charm.  Romance  and  Use- 

KLLNEss  OK  Iron  Ore 145 

XVII     Iron  Ore  Bacteria 1(53 

XVIII  Reading  the  Story  of  the  Stones  as 
Printed  on  the  Pages  ok  the  Earth's 
Surface <-q 

XIX    Great    Lean    Outcropping   of    Iron    Ore 
Unseen  Tender  the  Very  Eyes  of  the 

W""'-'^ 165 

XX     Into  the  Heart  ok  the  Arctic  Lapland 
Where  the  Mysteries  are  Attuned  to 
THE  Muffled  Footfalls  of  Silence  .     .  174 
XXI     Deposits  of  Iron  Ore  and  Beds  of  Coal 

Under  the  Shadow  of  the  Pole      .     .  184 
XXII    A  Starvation  Hike  to  Hunt  for  a  Hid- 
den Range  of  Iron  Ore 190 

XXIII  Fatherly    Attitude   of   John   W.   Gates 

and  John  J.  Mitchell 20?! 

XXIV  Eating  Moose  Meat  from  One  Year's  End 

TO  Another  at   the   .AIoose   Mountaln 

^"^"^ 210 

XXV    Sir    Donald     Mann     Proposes     to     Use 
Double-Bitted  Axes  as  Weapons  in  a 
Duel  with  a  Russian  Count  .     .     .     .215 
XXVI    World  Workers  in  Iron  in  all  Ages    .     .  223 
XXVII    Concentration    of    Lean    Ores    in    the 
United    States  -  Siderite  -  Magnetite 
-Hematite 233 

XXVIII    Accidental  Fortunes  prom  Iron  Ore  .     .  244 


CONTEXTS 

CHAPTER 

XXIX  Mesab.  Range  ,n  Minnesota,  the  Great- '^' 

EST  Iron  Ore  District  the  World  Has 
Ever  Known 249 

XXX  Consideration  OK  Charles  Evans  Hloiies. 

WooDRow  Wilson  and  Others  in  Search- 
ing FOR  A  Slcckssor  t..  James  B.  Angell 

AT  THE   I  NIVERSITY  OF   Ml(  HIOAN     .        .        .257 

XXXI    Tom   Mav's    Kerry  Philosophy  a   Socul 

Thermometer 265 

XXXII    I  Am  Elected  Governor  of  Mk  hioan     .  268 

XXXIII  I    Start    a    Fioiit    Against    thk    Saloon 

THAT  Keeps  Up  to  the  End    .     .  276 

XXXIV  Fighting     eo.     thk     Lipk    ok     Michigan 

Against  the  IIcman  Blooms, ckers  that 
SUBSIST  ON  Society  Evervwherk       .     .  280 
XXXV    My  Part  ,n  the  Presidential  Campaign 

"*■  ^^^-^ 289 

XXXVI  Off  FOR  .Madagascar.  Asia  and  Akr„  a  for 
A  Long  Toir  in  the  T^vrscAL  Parts  of 
T"E  Earth 293 

XXXVII    Some    References    to    Birma.    Ceylon. 

(  OCHIN-CHINA,    Ji  hkestan,    Persia      .      .   298 
XXXVni    I    Discover    Another    Great    Iron    Ore 
Range  that  Will  Some  Day  Help  to 
Supply  the  World 3^5 

XXXIX    Many  People  of  Michigan  Again  Trge  Me 
T.)   Jake  Ip  the  Gonkal.-n  kor  Better 

1  HiNGs  IN  THE  State gQ^ 

XL    In  Conclusion  ... 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

My  Mother.  Marsraret  Ann  Fannon  OBbom    .  FrcntUpierr 
Florence,  Wisconsin,  40  years  a^o ^^'"^s 

Where   Lake   Superior   Breaks   Through    La    Sault   de 
Sainte  Marie 

Author  in  typical  Primeval  Jungle  on  the  Hudson  Bay 

Height  of  Land   ... 

162 

Alfred  Nohle  Promontory -Lake  Superior    .     .     .     .168 

Upturned  tree  where  iron  ore  was  first  discovered  on 
Lake  Superior  at  Megaunee 246 

Tom  May's  Sketch  of  Deorfoot  showing  how  a  tender- 
foot hung  a  Buck „»„ 

A  Press  Cartoon,  1910 284 

Afield  with  Tiglath  Pilezer  Bones  No.  II 306 

I  made  a  sun  dial  at  Camp  in   Windipo   Land  on   a 
sawed  stump  and  Emerson  Hough  inspects  it  .      .         3o« 

My  father  — George  Augustus  Osborn 314 


STATEMENT 

Cellini  states  that  all  men  of  whatsoever  quality  they 
be,  who  have  done  anything  of  excellence,  or  which 
may  properly  resemble  excellence,  ought,  if  thev  are  per- 
sons of  truth  and  honesty,  to  describe  their  'life  with 
their  own  hands;  but  they  ought  not  to  attempt  so  fine 
an  enterprise  imtil  they  have  passed  the  age  of  forty. 
And  so,  he  says,  in  a  work  like  this  there  will  always 
be  found  occasion  for  natural  bragging. 

Guizot  wrote  the  history  of  France  after  undertaking 
to  tell  it  to  his  grandchildren  as  they  sat  about  his 
knee. 

When  my  friend,  Emerson  Hough,  added  his  urging 
to  that  of  my  children  and  grandchildren,  I  first  gave  a 
serious  thought  to  it.  My  father  had  a  great  prejudice 
against  autobiographies.  This  he  communicated  to  me 
congenitally. 

I  am  not  abnormally  modest,  I  think,  but  I  rebelled 
at  the  idea  of  writing  about  myself.  It  staged  my  ego 
too  prominently. 

"  The  fact  is,"  said  Mr.  Hough,  "you  unconsciously 
possess  such  a  Gargantuan  ego  that  you  think  you  must 
conceal  it  by  a  false  show  of  modestv.  If  you  were 
really  modest,  you  would  not  think  of  your  ego,  but 
would  as  willingly  write  of  yourself  as  of  another." 

Others  supported  him.  And  even  with  it  all  I  feel 
like  explaining  the  reason  why  I  consented  to  try. 


STATEMKNT 

T  rot.fcss  1  atn  pla.l  to  Lave  my  ;Nram>  P„lo  and 
AblK-  Hue  and  my  Stephenson  and  Roos.-volf  and  Sid- 
ri«  y.  And  I  wonid  .sot  ^Toat  store  by  it  if  1  Lad  a  life  of 
my  own  jrrandfatlier. 

Prol.al.ly  fl„.  decision  to  set  down  wliat  follows  grew 
from  the  h,.|ief  that  the  op|K)rtunities  of  lif,.  i„  America 
are  as  nnmerons  as  they  ever  were.  If  I,  as  an  average 
American,  and  that  is  all  I  elaim  to  he  or  wish  to  Ix;, 
ean  have  done  the  thinrrs  that  enpij;ed  my  existence! 
others  may  also  have  enlivened  hope. 
_  With  ,£rratefnlrie<<  to  C.,u]  for  TTis  mercv  and  protec- 
tion and  providence  and  for  all  the  wondrous  blesainga 
I  have  enjoy,.,!,  I  snhmit.  as  in,-omplete,  a  .sketch  of 
som,'  of  fh,.  work  of  my  lif(\ 

T  view  the  future  for  my  country,  mv  familv.  my 
friends  an.l  myself  cheerfully  :.nd  hopefulJv,  in  the  light 
«)f  God's  l,)ve  and  His  merciful  direction. 

Chase  S.  Osbohn. 
feault  de  Saitite  Marie.  'Michigan, 
-Uecember,  11)18. 


1 
n 


THE  IRON  HUNTER 


CllAPTEK  1 
WOLVES -H LAI A.\  AND  OTHEKWISE 


"rp 


11 0.SE  awful  wolvea!!!" 

Aly  wife  exclaimed,  as  a  loug,  low,  blood- 
im'znig  howl  sifted  to  our  ear.  with  the  piue- 
needl..,  wiud  rhythms.  It  came  from  a  mile  north  on 
the  course  ,,f  a  late  fall  gale.  Our  baby,  a  girlie  a  year 
old,  slept  like  a  little  hairless  savage  in  a  paddH,  corn- 
ean  box.     The  wolf  howl  did  not  reach  the  ears 

\U'  were  in  the  back  room  of  a  rakish,  one-sto.     shack' 
ihere  were  three  such  rooms,  just  little  cages  partitioned 
with  rough  ceiling  boards,  with   broken  tongues  and 
warped  edges,  making  cracks  that  prevented  anything 
like  eye  privacy.     As  for  hearing,  our  ears  were  not  shut 
off  at  all.     I  used  the  front  end  of  the  building  as  a 
printing  oftce      It  contained  an  old  Washington  hand 
e    r-press  and  a  new  Taylor  cylinder,  paintfd  as  J 
iai>  as  a  German  reception  room.     There  were  two  inh 
presses,  a  Peerless  and  a   Universal -both   new -a 

DrinTanT'''K  ^""^''^"^^  u'"""'  '^^^  ''''''  «^«"  P"es  of 
le tic  t  f  \P^P^^«'  «  big  box  stove,  and  the  usual  ath- 
ietic  towel,  ethiopic  with  ink.  The  smell  that  came 
from  the  room  needed  no  ambergris  as  a  matrix  but  w^s 
I'ke  wild  roses  in  the  nostrils  of  a  voung.  coun trv  nel" 
paper  man.  ^  ^-uinr\  ncws- 

1 


2  THE  IKON  HUNTER 

The  bI(KHl-sn'ar<'hin|?  howl  was  repeated  in  greater  vol- 
uiiu>  —  fiiiir  wolves  this  time.  It  was  getting  late  in 
the  little  mining  town,  b»it  drunken  shouts  and  the  crack 
of  a  shot  could  now  and  then  be  beard. 

"  We  tan't  live  here,  Chase,"  my  wife  said.  "  Even 
if  we  can,  it  is  no  plaee  for  the  baby." 

"  Vou  are  ri^lit,"  I  replied.  "  Just  give  me  a  little 
time  to  clean  this  place  up  and  make  it  a  fit  place  for 
decent  people.  If  I  fail,  we  will  go  back  to  Milwaukee 
or  some  other  place  where  outlaws  arc  not  the  law." 

This  took  place  at  Florence,  Wisconsin,  in  the  heart  of 
the  :Menominoe  iron  range,  one  of  the  Lake  Superior 
iron  ore  districts.  Conditions  here  were  similar  to 
those  of  every  new  range.  There  is  always  an  outlaw 
headquarters  in  all  new  regions  remote  from  disciplined 
centers.  Florence,  at  this  period  of  the  early  eighties, 
was  a  metropolis  of  vice.  There  was  gambling  on  the 
main  streets,  outdoors  in  clement  weather  and  un- 
screeneil  indoors  when  driven  in  by  cold  and  storm. 
Prostitution  was  just  as  bold.  Its  red  passion  garbings 
paraded  every  prominent  place  in  town.  A  mile  out  of 
town,  kludge's  stockade  was  the  central  supply  station. 
It  was  the  prison  used  by  the  nerviest  white  slavers  that 
ever  dealt  in  women.  A  big  log  camp  with  frame  gables 
held  a  bar  and  dance  hall  and  stalls  on  the  first  floor. 
On  the  second  floor  were  rooms  about  the  size  of  those 
in  a  Tokio  Yoshiwara.  A  third-floor  attic  contained 
dungeons  and  two  trap  doors.  In  the  cellar  were  dark 
cells  and  a  secret  passage,  well  timbered  with  cedar, 
leading  to  where  the  hill  on  which  the  stockade  was 
located  broke  down  into  a  dense  swamp.  Surrounding 
this  camp  of  death,  and  worse,  were  sharp  pointed  pali- 
sades, ten  feet  high,  of  the  kind  used  against  the  Indians 
to  inclose  pioneer  blockhouses.     There  were  loopholes. 


WOLVKS- HUMAN  AND  OTUKRWISE       8 

Two  pa»8agf8  led  through  the  stockade.     Oue  was  wide 
enough  to  admit  a  team.     This  was  fastened  with  horn- 
beam  cross  bars.     The  other  entrance  was  narrower  and 
for  commoner  use.     It  was  protected  by  a  solid  sliding 
gate  of  ironwood.     On  either  side  of  this  gate,  inside, 
two  big,  gaunt,  terrifying  timber  wolves  were  chained! 
It  was  tho  howls  of  these  four  wolves  we  had  heard. 
This  stockade  was  a  wholesale  warehouse  of  women. 
There  were  several  in  the  Lake  Superior  iron  country 
in  the  early  day.s  but  I  think  this  one  at  Florence  was 
the  most  notorious  and  the  worst.     It  was  built  by  "  Old 
Man  "  iludgc.     He  was  a  white-livered,  sepulchral  in- 
dividual who  wore  a  cotton  tie,  a  Prince  Albert  coat  and 
a  plug  hat;  even  wore  this  outfit  when  he  fed  the  wolves. 
Mudgc  worked  as  a  preacher  through  northern  Indi- 
ana and  Ohio  and  the  scoundrel  used  his  clerical  make- 
up to  fine  advantage.     He  had  a  readv  tongue  and 
roped  in  girl  after  girl.     Not  much  attention  was  paid 
in  those  days  to  pimping  and  procuring.     Whenever  a 
murder  grew  out  of  his  acts,  the  old  fox  would  so  in- 
volve his  trail  that,  if  it  led  anywhere  at  all,  a  church 
was  at  the  end  of  it,  and  that  would  throw  off  the  sleuth. 
^^  Old  Mudge  ruined  his  daughter  Mina,  and  she  was 
"  keeper  "  of  the  place.     Mina  Mudge  was  a  stunning 
woman.     Her  concentrated  depravity,  for  she  too  had 
a  child  and  brought  it  up  in  infamy,  was  glossed  over 
by  a  fine  animal  figure,  a  rubescent  complexion,  semi- 
pug  nose,  lurking  gray  eyes,  sensual  lips  and  sharpish 
chin.     Her  lips  were  the  clew  to  passion,  and  eves  and 
chin  betokened  the  cruelty  of  a  she  hyena.     Girls  were 
wheedled  or  beaten  into  submission,  and  nearly  always 
when  she  sold  them  she  had  them  broken  to  the  business. 
Two  days  before,  in  the  evening,  a  shrinking,  girlish 
young  woman  was  found  just  outside  our  door  bv  mv 


TIIK  IliOX  IIUXTEK 


wife.  She  cowered  and  shivered  and  looked  wild-eyed. 
I(  took  some  time  to  coax  her  in.  After  warmth  and 
food,  she  told  her  story.  Old  Mudge  had  found  her  on 
a  farm  in  Ohio.  An  orphan,  she  was  sort  of  hound 
out,  and  her  life  was  one  of  work  and  little  else. 
Rather  attractive,  she  was  spied  hy  tlie  old  serpent,  and 
taken  north  "  to  a  good  home."  In  her  heart  the  girl 
was  good  and  she  was  bravo.  ^Mina  Mudge  starved 
her,  beat  her,  tied  her  ankles  and  wrists  with  thongs 
and.  to  break  her  in  with  terror,  fastened  her  just  out 
of  the  reach  of  the  wolves.  It  was  night,  and  the  girl 
grew  cold  with  exposure  and  fear.  Her  wrists  and 
ankles  shrunk  some,  and  she  wriggled  out  of  the  cut- 
ting thongs.  Then  she  fled  to  the  swamp  and  hid  until 
hunger  forced  her  to  search  for  food.  We  took  as  good 
care  of  her  as  our  means  aiforded  and  plaimed  her  com- 
plete rescue.  The  day  we  heard  the  wolves  howling, 
as  mentioned  in  the  beginning  of  the  chapter,  the  girl 
disappeared.  It  was  years  later  before  I  knew  what 
had  befallen  her.  Mudge's  gang  had  located  and 
trapped  her.  They  forcibly  kidnaped  her  and  carried 
her  to  the  wolf  stockade.  There  she  was  given  no 
chance  again  to  escape.  Her  spirit  was  broken.  She 
was  sold  to  a  brothel-keeper  in  Ontonagon  County, 
Michigan,  and  was  murdered  by  him  one  night  in  a 
ranch  near  to  the  Lake  Superior  shore.  !Murders  often 
occurred,  but  those  guilty  were  seldom  punished. 
When  this  girl  so  mysteriously  disappeared  from  our 
house.  I  was  suspicious.  I  went  to  the  sherifl',  an  Irish 
saloon-keeper,  but  could  not  get  him  to  act.  He  was 
either  a  member  of  the  gang  or  honestly  afraid. 

The  Mudge  gang  was  organized  over  a  territory  in- 
cluding the  region  for  five  hundred  miles  south  of  Lake 
Superior   from    Canada    to   Minnesota.     "  Old    Man  " 


WOLVES  — HUMAN  AND  OTHERWISE       5 


W 


.Afudfje  was  as  much  of  a  genius  in  some  directions  as 
he  \yas  a  devil  in  others.  Compared  with  him,  Machia- 
velli  was  a  saint.  They  did  not  confine  themselves  to 
woman  stealing.  They  would  run  off  witnesses  when 
iirrcsts  occurred  near  the  law-and-order  line.  If  they 
could  not  get  rid  of  them  any  other  way,  the  witnesses 
were  killed.  Any  man  who  showed  an  inclination  to 
oppose  the  gang  was  either  intimidated  or  murdered. 
Within  their  own  ranks  a  rehel  never  got  away  alive. 
Mudge  lolerated  no  rivals.  No  sea  pirate  was  ever 
more  bloodthirsty  or  vengeful.  The  most  notorious 
murder  Ik;  was  responsible  for  was  that  of  Dan  Dunn, 
at  Trout  Lake.  Dunn  was  just  as  bad  a  man  as  :Nrudge, 
and  not  so  much  of  a  sneak  about  it.  That  was  reallv 
how  ;^^udge  came  to  get  him. 

Such  were  conditions   in  the  iron  country  when   I 
arrived.     The    picture   cannot   be   overdrawn.     I   )iad 
gone  there  upon  a  telegram  sent  by  Iliram  D.  Fisher, 
discoverer  of  the  Florence  mine,  to  Col.»nel  J.  A.  Wat- 
rous  of  ililwaukee,  asking  him  to  "send  up  a  young 
fellow  not  afraid  to  run  a  newspaper."     It  was  a  weekly 
jiublication.     The  owner  and  editor,  a  man  of  culture 
and  courage,  too  old  and  too  fine  for  the  rough  pioneer- 
ing and  outlaws,  had  just  "disappeared."     The  ganc 
was  against  all  newspapers  and  dead  against  any  tluU 
tried  to  improve  conditions  or  oppose  them  in  any  wav. 
'h\>t  a  little  time  before  th-/  had  burned  the  Manis- 
fi'jiie  Pioneer  office  and  had  tried  desperately  but  un- 
successfully  to   assassinate   its   brave   editor,'  the   late 
Major  Clarke,  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  War.     All  along 
the  line  they  had  terrorized  editors  if  possible.      So  the 
first  night  after  I  arrived  they  shot  out  my  windows 
and  shot  a  leg  off  one  of  the  job  presses,  just  to  show 
mo  what  they  would  do  to  me  if  I  wasn't  •'  good." 


6 


THE  IROX  HUNTER 


A  short  time  before  that  the  gang  had  gotten  down 
on  Captain  William  E.  Dickii.^on,  superintendent  of  the 
Commonwealth  mine,  two  miles  from  Florence.  Cap- 
tain Dickinson  had  come  there  from  the  Xew  York  mine 
in  one  of  the  older  Lake  Superior  districts.  He  was 
fearless  and  a  man  of  order  and  high  ideals.  With  a 
fine  family  of  voung  children,  li'^  felt  the  necessity  of 
improving  conditions.  Successful  in  his  previous  en- 
vironment, he  did  not  apprehend  serious  trouble.  But 
ho  did  not  correctly  take  the  measure  of  the  desperate 
characters  who  made  up  the  ]\rudge  gang.  Hardly  had 
he  started  to  move  against  tliem  before  they  stole  his 
little  son  W''lie.  Tlioy  sent  him  word  that  if  he  fought 
them  they  would  kill  the  cliild.  It  was  a  knife  in  his 
heart,  the  wound  of  which  finally  carried  him  to  his 
grave.  Captain  Dickinson  spent  money,  followed 
clews,  sent  spi's  to  join  the  gang  and  gave  up  every 
thought  except  the  recovery  of  his  little  son.  It  is 
nearly  forty  years  ago  now.  Captain  Dickinson  has 
gone  to  his  final  reward.  Where  Willie  Dickinson  is 
or  what  became  of  him  or  whether  he  is  dead  or  alive, 
is  a  mystery  to  this  day.  It  is  the  most  piteous  tragedy 
of  scores  enacted  by  the  iron  pirates. 

Something  had  to  be  done.  I  began  a  study  of  the 
situation  in  detail.  The  encouraging  fact  was  de- 
veloped that  the  law-abiding  citizens  outnumbered  the 
outlaws.  A  majority  of  them  were  timid  and  could 
not  be  depended  upon  to  act,  but  we  could  be  certain 
that  not  many  of  them  would  openly  join  the  leeches. 
Many  men  with  families  deplored  conditions  but  feared 
that  a  war  on  the  toughs  wcnild  hurt  business.  Hasn't 
it  been  always  so?  Then  to  my  amazement  and  cha- 
grin, for  I  was  only  twenty-three  years  old  and  to  a 
degree  unsophisticated,  I  \mcovered  the  fact  that  that 


WOLVES  —  HUMAN  AND  OTHERWISE 


Borgia  of  a  Aflna  Mudge  had  something  on  half  or  more 
of  the  nierchant;*,  who  thought  easily  or  made  that  ex- 
cuse to  their  conscience,  that  they  had  to  be  good  fel- 
1(  .^  ai'd  go  to  her  place  with  the  miners  and  woodsmen 
in  order  to  got  business.  The  outlaws  were  ^Ae  to  keep 
close  tab  on  the  plans  of  any  who  threatened  them 
through  these  dwellers  in  the  twilight  zone  of  morals. 
As  soon  as  I  could  be  certain  of  some  backing,  I  at- 
tacked Mudge  and  his  gang  in  my  little  paper.  It  was 
Ji  tliunderer  there  though,  no  matter  what  its  size.  I 
charged  crimes  home  and  named  those  who  were  guilty 
or  probably  so,  whenever  I  had  facts  or  tangible  sus- 
picions. The  time  must  have  been  just  ripe  for  it  for 
some  astounding  things  occurred.  Some  of  those 
against  whom  I  made  charges  came  to  see  me;  not  all 
peaceably.  But  f^-om  some  of  them  T  obtained  denials 
of  participation,  and  one  or  two  gave  to  me  invaluable 
inside  information.  Consetjuently  I  was  informed  in 
advance  when  my  office  was  to  be  wrecked,  and  when 
I  was  to  be  gotten  rid  of.  I  built  a  little  conning  place 
of  glass  and  kept  some  one  on  watch  there  every  day- 
light moment.  Also  I  bought  Winchesters  for  all  the 
office  force,  and  for  a  long  time  every  type  stand  was 
a  gun  rack  for  a  repeating  rifle.  At  night  I  took  extra 
care  and  kept  watch.  A  couple  of  faithful  dogs  with 
plenty  of  bulldog  blood  guarded  the  office,  and  were 
much  better  for  the  purpose  than  Mudge's  wolves,  but 
did  not  make  as  terrifying  a  setting  in  the  mind  of  a 
tender'foot. 

I  found  a  fighting  preacher  at  the  little  mission 
church  in  Florence  in  the  person  of  Harlan  Page  Cory, 
a  young  Presbyterian  just  suited  to  the  work  to  be  done 
and  entirely  unafraid.  An  undersherif!  named  Char- 
ley Xoyes,  fron-i  the  Androscoggin  cnuntrv   wa?  found 


8 


THE  IRON  nUXTEK 


to  1x3  clonn  and  bravo  and  deix^ndablo.     Bill  Xoves 
h.s  broth,.,,  was  a  six  footer  plus,  and  the  bost  shot  'and 

a  rad  of  a  „,ad  catamount,  and  his  morals  had  sprouted 
.be  (,rron  Mountains  whore  Ethan  Allen  got  his 
Bill  was  ea-or  to  help  clean  tip.  ^ 

steH  wIh'  ";":'';^'^"-^*;!f  ^d  hardware  man  named  Rolb- 
«tHl,  w.th  wlnskers  hko  a  deer  mouse  a,.d  a  voice  like 
a  consumptno  cuckoo,  was  found,  when  the  meter  wal 

tacks.     Ihero  was  no  law  a-rainst  shining  doer  in 

s  affold  one  day,  twenty  feet  up  in  a  birch  that  leaned 
mc-r  a  oonnect.ng  gut  of  Spread  Eagle  Lak.,  where  a 
ftne  rmnv^ay  crossed.  The  first  dark,  soft  night  bat 
-mo  he  cl.mbed  up  there  with  a  bull's-eve  lamp  c 
over  us  left  eye.  Ho  nearly  wont  to  ^loop  befo  .. 
hoard  anything.  Then  ho  suddenly  came  to'and  aw  a 
P a.r  of  silvery  eyes  and  lot  go  at  them.     Forgetting  in 

h    ti         V.  ^''"i^^^"  ^°  ^''-  -^olid  ground  and  down 
Jlo  lit  astride  of  a  two-hundred-pound  buck  that  ho  bad 

ot  ^  ater.     Of  course,  he  lost  bis  grm  in  tbo  descent 
.  hn,      Has  tomahawk,  ho  nearly  chopped  the  buck's 
■■Hi  ort  before  ho  succeeded  in  killing  him.     Kolbstel 
»';.']  plenty  of  that  intestinal  courage  that  was  the  fa 
;;-';-"  ..f  Tsln,  who  bullt  tl.o  Great  Wall  and  moas- 

itduer,  in  tfie  now  movement 

With  those  and  otl.ors  assured,  we  called  a  mooting 
and  nr..H„.od  the  riti.en  Ke.nilntors.  The  moetinf 
was  such  a  hummer  and  so  many  joined  that  tbeThe Hff 


WOLVES  — HUMAN  AND  OTHERWISE       9 


and  district  attrney  had  a  street  duel  the  next  day, 
growing'  out  of  a  row  that  was  caused  by  each  trying 
to  shift  l)hnne  upon  the  other.  I  had  publicly  charged 
them  l)ot}i  with  being  controlled  by  the  Mudge  gang. 
The  district  attorney  shot  the  sheriflf  through  the  lungs, 
A  lot  of  the  sheriff's  friends  got  a  rope  ready  to  hang 
the  lawyer,  who  really  was  one  of  tlie  worst  of  citi- 
zens, while  the  sheriff  had  told  several  that  he  intended 
to  join  the  Kegulafors.  ileanwhile  the  sheriff  lived 
long  enough  for  the  mob  to  cool  off.  The  preacher  and 
I  decided  that  we  must  get  rid  of  all  crooked  and  cow- 
ardly officials. 

I  started  to  Milwaukee  and  ^Madison  to  enlist  influ- 
ence and  see  the  governor,  in  order  to  have  the  district 
attorney  removed  and  a  man  appointed  who  would  en- 
force the  law.     All  the  way  to  ;Milwaukee  I  was  har- 
assed by  telegrams  for  my  arrest.     The  gang  tried  to 
capture  me  at  the  train,  but  I  learned  of  their  plans  in 
time  to  elude  them.     Then  we  had  a  wild  race  through 
the  xyoods  to  the  Afichigan  line.     If  thev  had  caught  me 
in  W^isconsin  they  were  going  to  finish  me  in  some  wav. 
The  pursuit  kept  up  almost  to  Iron  Mountain,  which 
was  nearly  as  bad  as  Florence  at  the  time.     I  dodged 
them  but  was  afraid  to  stop  at  Iron  Mountain  because 
the  local  authorities  there  were  b<^lieved  to  be  under 
the  control  of  the  Mudge  outlaws.     It  was  night.     I 
had  expected  to  take  an  evening  train.     Prevented  from 
doing  this,  I  ran  two  miles  through  the  woods  to  Com- 
monwealth.    There   o:ie   of  my   faithful    printers,    an 
Irish  lad  named  Billy  Doyle,  had  a  team  in  waiting. 
Hastily  climbing  into  the   buckboard   and   taking  the 
lines,  I  lashed  the  horses  into  a  gallop.     Over  mv  shoul- 
ders I  could  see  the  gang  coming  on  foot,  on  hJrse  and 


in 


rigs.     I  had  a  Colt's  revolver  and  could  shoot  it  quite 


10 


THK  IROX  HUNTER 


well  cnoiifjh.     Billy  had  thrown  in  a  Winchcstor.     I 
made  np  rn.v  mind  they  would  not  take  me  iji  Wiseonsin 
without  a  fijrht.     We  madly  galloped  over  the  eordnroy 
roads  in  the  dark.     That  it  was  niirht  and  the  pursuers 
were  unoriranized  was  all  that  saved  me.     We  erossed 
the  line.     On  the  outskirts  of  Iron  ^Mountain  I  gave 
the  reins  to  Hilly  and  jurniu-d  out  and  went  on  alone. 
Safely  making  a  detour  of  the  to\ni,  I  took  the  rail- 
road track  and  hiked  southwards  towards  law  and  order. 
I  was  in  ^Michigan.     Between  Keel  Ridge  and  Qnin- 
nesee  three  men  stepped  f)Ut  of  the  gloom  and  leveled 
guns  at  my  head.      I  obeyed  their  order  to  hold  up  my 
hands  and  they  took  ine  baek  to  Iron  Mountain  by  main 
force,   and   not   a   sign  of  legal    warrant.     They   were 
Mudge  agents.      It  was  after  midnight.     I  made  a  big 
roar  as  soon  as  I  got  where  anybf)dy  eould  hear.     In 
spite  of  the  racket   I  made  they  took  me  to  a  place 
which  was  not  the  jail  and  locked  me  in  a  room.     Be- 
fore they  got  me  confined  I  manag(>d  to  send  word  to 
Cook  and  Flannigan,  whose  firm  of  attorneys  at  Xorwav 
was  the  ablest  on  the  Range.     The  late  Hon.  A.  C.  Cook 
got  to  me  and  secured  my  release.     To  this  day  T  do 
not  know  how  he  did  it.     Perhaps  his  partner,  K.  C. 
Flannigan,  now  a  prominent  mining  country  judge,  and 
a  good  one,  could  tell  if  he  wished  to.     I  continued  on 
my  way.      Kfforts  were  made  to  stop  me  at  ;MariTiette 
and   Green   Bay.     These   were  unsuccessful.     Finally 
I  got  to  Milwaukee  where  I  had  any  number  of  strong 
friends.      Lemuel  Ellsworth  had  just  become  chief  of 
police,  and  the  present  ^lilwaukee  chief,  John  T.  Jans- 
sen,  was  on  the  detective  staff.     I  went  to  the  central 
station  to  call  upon  them,  as  they  were  old  friends  of 
mine    during    my    police    reporter    days.     The    chief 
handed  me  a  telegram  to  read.     Tt  was  for  mv  arrest. 


WOLVKS- HUMAN  AND  OTHERWISE     11 

Thov  hjid  soiit  it  to  the  wroiijr  place.  I  told  my  story. 
All  of  us  knew  the  chief  atiectionately  as  Lem.  He 
said: 

"  (Had  t(.  see  you,  Chase.  Now,  let's  do  something  to 
those  hell-hounds.  I  will  wire  I  have  you  and  ask 
them  to  send  for  you  vith  a  stronj;  puard.  This  will 
possibly  bring  a  crowd  of  them  down,  and  I  will  throw 
them  all  into  the  bull  p'n.'' 

"Of  course  I  can't  wait  to  do  that,"  T  replied,  for 
I  had  to  accomplish  my  bigger  mission  and  return  as 
quickly  as  possible. 

During  the  afternoon  I  received  a  telegram  signed 
"H.  P.  Cory."  It  read:  "  Don't  come  back.  They 
are  going  to  kill  you  if  you  do." 

I  knew  it  as  a  fake  at  once,  for  that  preacher  would 
have  had  me  come  back  and  be  killed  rather  than  have 
me  run  away  from  the  fine  fight  I  had  started.  I  felt 
the  same  way.  It  was  only  wisdom  to  be  apprehensive 
enough  to  Ik-  on  the  alert,  as  the  gang  had  not  hesitated 
to  resort  to  murder  in  the  dark  bt^fore. 

I  saw  rugged  Jeremiah  :M.  Husk,  then  governor  of 
Wisconsin,  and  secured  the  appointment  of  a  clean,  but 
rathcT  gentle  lawyer  named  Howard  E.  Thompson  as 
district  attorney,  to  succeed  the  Mudge  gang  lawyer, 
who,  although  possessed  of  a  kind  of  brute  bravery,  got 
out  of  the  way.  Before  he  had  downed  the  sheriff  that 
«)fficer  had  lM)wled  him  over,  after  being  shot  through  the 
l)ody  himself,  and  stood  over  him,  futilely  snapping  a 
revolver,  all  the  loads  of  which  had  been  discharged,  in 
a  frantic  attempt  to  kill.  Then  the  sheriff  fell  into  the 
pool  of  blood  rhat  had  trickled  around  his  feet  and  the 
lawyer  bad  man  was  run  off. 

Governor  Kusk  gave  me  every  encouragment. 

"  Go  after  them,  boy,"  he  said,  "  and  if  vou  need 


12 


TIIK  IKON  HUNTER 


ln'Ip  jnst  say  the  word.     I'll  buck  you  with  the  troops 
if  it  i.s  nocessarv." 

I  mafic  my  way  hack  iiortli  about  as  rapidly  as  1  bad 
flod.  The  gaiij?  was  in  a  panic  whcti  they  saw  mo  and 
heard  of  the  support  the  -rdViTiior  had  fortified  mc  with. 
I  had  it  told  to  them  in  as  arnplitled  and  im|)ressivc 
a  manner  as  possii)le  and  then  I  played  it  up  in  my 
I)aper  with  al!  my  mitrlit  and  type.  The  ganfr  was  on 
the  run  from  that  time,  hut  it  was  not  JK-aten  yet. 
Dives  and  relays  were  started  alotijr  the  border  so  that 
the  outlaws  could  jump  from  one  State  to  the  other 
handily. 

riaudius  R.  Grant  was  a  circuit  judjre  in  the  adjacent, 
rcfiion  of  Michi<:an.      He  became  a  terror  to  the  bad 
men    and    women    and    clearly    showed    what    a    man 
rightly  constituted  can  do  with  the  law  in  his  own  hands. 
He  was   .vaging  a  solitary  war  against  the  gang,  and 
sheriffs  and  prosecuting  attorneys  who  were  their  tools. 
Finally  he  made  it  so  hot  for  them  on  his  side,  and  we 
so  reciprocated  on  our  side  that  the  bad  pe(»ple  began 
to  look  for  other  and  less  troublesome  pastures.     Tliev 
tied  to  Seney,  Trout  Lake,  Ewen,  Sidnaw,  Hurley  and 
other    points    in    the    Lake    Superior   country    out    of 
Grant's  jurisdiction,  and  out  of  our  reach,  where  they 
operated  for  some  years  without   molestation.     There 
was    a    temporary    renascence   of   outlawry    in    Judge 
Grant's   district   because   the  gang  liad   gotten    rid  of 
him  by  designedly  electing  hiin  to  the  Supreme  Court 
of  :Michigan.     But  it  did  not  last  long.     Civilization 
must  have  something  more  than  that  kind  of  outlawry 
to  subsist  upon,  and  civilization  was  growing  a  good 
deal  like  a  weed. 

All  of  this  was  not  achieved  as  easily  as  it  has  been 
briefly  written.     There  were  nianv  clashes  and  e.\eit- 


WOLVKS  -  HUMAN  AND  OTHERWISE     13 


in^'  IMrr,.riiiaii('<s.  Both  sidos  were  hi^h  handed. 
Sh<K»tiii;;s  ofcuncd  bv  dav  uiid  night,  and  the  tight  was 
a  rciil  liiittlc. 

At  first  th«'  gang  liad  nearly  all  the  law  otiieers  on 
its  si(J(.,  F{y  degrees  we  changed  this.  The  average 
fellow  in  <»t}i('('  is  (niick  t(»  try  to  piek  the  winning  side. 
These  trininiers,  usually  so  dcspicahle,  were  a  real  help 
to  us  iM'causc  they  trimmed  gra<lually  to  our  side. 

Mutliic  withdrew  his  worst  operations  to  more  remote 
■sfHtts  in  the  woods.  The  Regulators  determined  to 
clean  all  of  them  out.  The  law  was  too  slow  under  the 
conditions  that  <'xistcd  and  the  punishments  inadequate. 
At  the  time  there  was  really  no  law  against  white  slav- 
ery and  procuring. 

Pat  McHugh,  a  bully  and  retired  i)rize  fighter,  was 
Mudgc's  head  man.     Nearly  evcryl)(»dy  was  afraid  of 
him.     He  had  even  been  knowai  to  fight  in  the  dav- 
tinie  with  his  backers  at  hand,  and  he  was  fairlv  quick 
with  a  gun,  but  could  not  fan.     On  a  day  agreed  ui)on 
the  Regulators,  armed  with  Winchester  rifles,  Colt  re- 
volvers and  blacksnake  whips,  started  on  a  rodeo.     They 
drove  the  toughs  off  the  streets.     Those  who  did  not 
move   <pjickly   enough    were   lashed   snujrtly   with   the 
blaeksnakes.     Theirs  had  been  a  reign  of 'terror  long 
enough.     It  was  our  turn.     They  showed  as  many  tem- 
peraments as  one  could  find  among  any  men  and  women. 
Some  were  whimpering  cowards.     Others  were  sullen. 
The  women  were  most  bold  and  loudest  in  profanity 
and  vulgarity.     A  woman  has  capacity  to  be  the  very 
best  and  the  very  worst.     McIIugh  was  one  of  the  first 
to  run.     lie  hid  in  the  swamp  ..tockade  with  half  a 
dozen  others  of  the  gang.     The  Regulators  rode  down 
against  them.     They  opened  a  hot  fire  with  Winchester 
reiKiiters.     The   Regulators   replied   and  charged.     It 


It 


THE  I  RUN  HUNTER 


IVII  t(.  [Jill  Xoycs  fo  cuptnrc  Pat  AfcHuffh.  Tho  bully 
lijiil  offcii  boasted  what  Ik;  wmild  do  to  Bill  if  he  ever 
^<>t  a  chance.  Xow  he  Ih-d  into  the  swamp,  revolver 
ill  hand.  Bill  saw  him  and  ran  after  him.  They 
•Iodised  from  tree  to  tree,  Indian  fashion,  exehanping 
>hots  from  time  to  time.  r>ill  was  too  jjood  a  woods- 
nnin  for  .McHiijrh,  He  loaded  his  jrun  as  he  ran  and 
soon  had  a  drop  on  the  leader  of  the  oiittit.  MeHufrh 
fell  on  his  knees  and  lx'?.'f,'ed  for  merey.  Bill  spared 
him.     He  said  to  nie  only  a  short  time  ago: 

"Chase.  I  reckon  I  onirhta  killed  that  ml-handcd 
devil  that  day  I  <.'..t  him  in  tin'  swamp,  but  Pm  kinda 
ghid  I  didn't,  'cause  it  goes  agin  the  grain  with  me  to 
kill  anything  I  <'an't  eat." 

After  that  we  hnrned  a  nundter  of  stockades  and 
soon  had  the  conununity  so  tit  to  live  in  that  T  spent 
four  happy  years  there.  And  my  wif(>,  who  had  given 
up  a  good  home  to  share  her  lot  with  a  young  reporter, 
was  contented,  and  our  girlie  grew  fat  and  erowed  when 
her  first  hrother  was  born  in  the  little  Ixjarded  rooms 
lull  of  cracks,  in  the  rear  of  the  one-story,  country 
printing  otHce. 

What  hccame  of  Mudge  will  never  be  told.  Only  a 
half  dozen  Regulators  ever  knew. 


CHAPTER  II 
what's  in  vol  u  name  ok  mine? 

TUK  name  Osl)orn,  Osborne,  Osburn,  Osbern.  Os- 
Ixorn.  f'f  cetera,  has  an  interesting;  genesis,  true 
of  tlie  ori/,'in  of  most  family  names,  with  source 
variations  dependent  upon  what  name  svstem,  Teutonic 
or  other,  is  consulted.      Leo's  "  Essay  on  Anglo-Saxon 
Names,"  published  in  ISJi,  appears  to  be  as  thorough 
as   any   and   has   beoome  an   authority.     "  Bearo "  or 
"  bern,"  betokens,  as  gathered  from  Kemble's  "  Char- 
ters," a  fruitful,  productive  wood,  yi.'lding  beechnuts, 
acorns  and  other  mast,  wild  pears,  crabapples.  paw- 
paws, jK'rsimmons,  and  other  wild  fruits  of  the  forest. 
The  word  "  beran,"  meaning  to  yield,  to  produce  fruit, 
evolves  into  bear,  barron.  boren,  here,  barlev.     Beam, 
a  child,  the  fruit  of  the  l)ody,  and  bearo,  bero,  byro' 
the  fruit  wood,  are  similar  derivatives. 

These  things  I  am  setting  down,  not  because  of  anv 
especial  naine  vanity,  but  for  the  reason  that  these 
references  suggest  the  manner  of  the  making  and  the 
giving  of  all  family  names,  the  reader's  as  well  as  n>'"ne 
and  all  others.  Also  the  growth  system  of  our  language 
IS  indicated  by  the  way  family  names  have  started  and 
by  their  methods  of  change  in  obedience  to  the  influence 
of  thought  and  time. 

Ferguson,  in  his  "  Surnames  as  a  Science  "  builds 

my  name  of  the  Old  North  "As"  or  the  Ando-Saxon 

•  Os,    implicative  of  the  deity  and  "  bcorn,"  meaning 


d; 


TlIK  IKON  IMNTKIi 


Ix-iir.  l\(>  siivs  the  tiiiiiic  is  Xornc  urid  inciuis  "  Tln'  Di- 
vine I{<iir"  or  "  (J.p.llM.jir."  Lower's  "  I*iifroiiviiii«'a 
l!ritiimii('ii,"  piiMi^hed  I^Cd.  siiv^  tliat  ()>lN.ni,  Os- 
Imuiic,  OsImtii,  ()>lMriiiis  anil  so  forth  arc  variiitions  of 
a  vcrv  coiiiiiioii  liii|iti>iiial  iiaiiu-.  Several  |ier<oiis  l»ear- 
iii^'  tiie.-e  names  are  referred  to  in  I  Jornesda v  as  ti  nants 
in  chief  in  dilTeri'iit  eoiinfies  of  Kn^IaiiiL 

WiHiaiii  Arthnr.  father  of  Chester  A.  Arthnr.  hroiif;ht 
out  a  name  hnnr  |wM)k  in  is.',;,  it,  whieh  he  sav-  ( Khorn 
is  Saxon,  frojn  hiis,  house,  and  In-arn,  a  chihl,  heiiec  a 
familv  child  or  perhaps  an  adopte«l  child. 

Fiowditch's  "  Sulfolk  Surnames."  lioston.  ISfil, 
makes  very  free  wifli  Arthur's  olTerinjrs,  as  Arthur  had 
done  with  other  name  sh'uths,  and  says  Oshorn  means 
'*  ho\ise<'hihl." 

Hardsh-y's  ''  Kurdish  Surmimes,"  says  that  "  Os  "  as 
a  root  word  earryinn  the  si^'niticance  of  deity  has  mado 
for  itself  a  firm  phiee  anion^'  Knjjjiish  mimes,  as  proven 
hy  Oslnirn.  Oswahl.  Oswin.  Osmond,  Osmer,  Osgot, 
Os^rood,  Oslae  (Asluck,  Ilashick,  etc.). 

Kdmunds,  in  "Traces  of  History  in  Xames  of 
Places,"  says  Oshorn  means  "  hrave  Ik  ■  ." 

So{)hy  Moody,   in  "What  is   Your  Name?"  has  it 
tliat  Oslwrn  means  "  a  chi<'f  a{)pointed  hy  the  j^'ods." 
"CJentry,  Family  Xames,"  Philadelphia.  lS!t2,  gives 
Os      as  hero  and  "  l>eorii  "  as  chief,  jrt'neral,  prince, 
kinjr,  hence  hero  kin^.  or  something;  akin  to  it. 

In  "  Homes  of  Family  Xames  in  Groat  Britain," 
Guppy,  IsOO,  I  Hiid  the  claim  tlutt  my  name  was  lK)rne 
by  fanners  or  yeomaji  attached  to  the  soil  in  Kn«land 
before  the  .Vorinan  (*oiii|nest.  Accordimr  to  (Jnppy, 
it  wa-;  confined  sonth  of  a  line  joiniiiir  the  Ilnmher  and 
the  Mersey,  and  it>  principal  area  of  distribution  is  in 
the  form  of  a  belt  crossimr  Central  Fni^land  from  Fast 


WHATS  IX  YOru  XAMK  OK  MINE      17 

Anplia  to  the  Ixinlcr-*  of  Walos.  TIkhihIi  well  ropro- 
sr'iitod  iilo  in  the  sontliwrst  of  Knj>l«ii(|,  csiMM-iallv  in 
Somerset  iiiid  Cornuill,  if  is  rare  or  ah'^ctit  in  the  oflirr 
soiifli  cuast  <'«»iinti«'S  cxccotinj;  Sussex.  ()slK)rne  is 
<'<)ininon  in  Kn<rlan<l  and  Oslwiru  is  tiiiconinion  in  eorn- 
pari-un.  altlioiiL'li  the  latter  is  sprinkled  tliroii^Ii  Hed- 
fnrdsliire,  Huekin>rlianisliire,  (.^iinltrid^'esliire.  Cornwall, 
Pcrhysjiire.  K^spx,  (Jloncestersliire.  Hertfordshire.  Lin- 
colnshire. Norfolk,  Northamptonshiro.  Soniersetshiro, 
Suffolk,  Sussex,  Woreesfershiro  and  Warwickshiro. 

A  JKKtk  with  author's  tuimc  not  piven,  "  The  Norman 
Proph-  iind  their  oxistinir  doscondonts  in  t'lo  Tiritish 
Dominions  and  tiie  I'nited  States."  London,  is;},  eon- 
tains  a  dietiomirv  of  .1000  Xorman  name?.  T  jrather 
here  that  our  family  deseend.<?  from  a  Kentish  hraneh 
of  the  family  of  Fitz-OslM-rno.  seated  in  that  eounty 
early  in  the  reijrn  of  Henry  VI,  whore  Thomas  O^Imtup 
appeared  to  a  writ  of  quo  warranto  for  the  Ahbcy  of 
Dartford.  The  family  had  eome  from  Kssex  and  Suf- 
folk, where  the  name  is  traced  to  Thomas  Fitz-Osl>enie, 
\±J7-1-2\(),  who  pranted  lands  to  Holy  Trinity.  His 
grandfather,  Richard  Fitz-Osberne  or  Fitz-OslM'rt,  held 
a  fief  from  Farl  I}ip<,t  in  llCr.  :iiif'  was  ancestor  f»f  the 
Lords  Fitz-Osherne  summoned  by  writ  in  1:512.  Fitz- 
Letard  Osk-rn  came  to  Enpland  in  lOfifl  and  held  lands 
from  Odo,  of  Bayeux  in  lOSfi. 

"  The  Battle  of  Abbey  Koll  with  some  aceount  of  the 
Norman  Lineapes,"  by  the  Duchess  of  Cleveland,  has 
many  references  to  the  Osborns. 

"  Dnpdale  Baronage  of  F^npland.  or  an  Historical 
Account  of  the  Lives  and  ifost  Memorable  Actions  of 
our  English  Nobility  in  the  Saxon  Tim,  s  to  the  Xorman 
CoiKpiest.  and  from  thence  of  Those  who  had  Their 
Rise  iM^foro  the  end  of  Urnvy  Ill's  Keign,"  genealog- 


IS 


TIIK  IRON  UUXTP:R 


ical  tables,  etc.,  0  volumes,  hv  tlio  author  of  "  Monasti- 
coii  Aiiaclicauuni,"  published  lOT'i.  is  a  notable  work 
and  a  chief  authority  for  that  time  in  what  it  purpc/fts 
to  cover.  i'lanche.  in  ''  The  Concpicror  and  Ilis  Com- 
panions," visits  it  liberally,  as  do  other  writers  dealing 
with  that  era. 

In  Lower's  "  p]inrlish  Surnames'"  T  found  a  story  of 
the  Osborn  name  which,  whether  true  or  false,  mirrors 
the  times  and  depicts  'he  liirht  reirard  mcdia-val  mou- 
archs  had  for  the  lands  and  property  of  the  people  t!iat 
were  vested  in  the  crown.  Walter,  a  Norman  knight 
and  a  great  favorite  of  King  William  the  First,  playing 
at  chess  with  his  Sire  on  a  summer  evening  on  the  hanks 
of  the  River  Ouse,  won  all  he  played  for.  The  King 
said  he  had  nothing  more  to  play  for  and  was  about  to 
(juit  the  game. 

''Sire,'"  said  Walter,  "here  is  land." 

"There  is  so,"  re|»lied  King  William,  "and  T  will 
further  play  with  thee.  If  thou  beatest  me  this  game 
also,  thine  is  all  this  land  on  this  side  the  bourne  (river) 
which  thou  canst  see  as  thou  sittest." 

Walter  won. 

King  William  clapped  him  on  the  shoulder  and  de- 
clared : 

"  The  lands  are  yours.  ITeneefortli  shall  you  be  a 
lord,  ami  have  the  name  '  Ousebourne.'  "  And  thence 
sprang  the  family  of  Osborn. 

The  family  name  is  treated  in  Burke's  "  General 
Armory  "  and  cspcciallv  in  Burke's  "  Vicissitudes  of 
Famili'es." 

In  the  Church  of  Dives,  Xormandy,  is  a  roll  of  the 
"Companions  of  William  in  the  Conquest  of  England 
in  lOtlti."     It  gives  Osbern  d'Arquess,  Osbern  du  Ber- 


WHAT'S  IX  YOUR  NAME  OR  MINE      19 

nib,  Osbcrn  d'Eu,  Osbern  Giffard,  Osbcrn  Pastforiere, 
Osborn  du  Quesnai,  Osboru  du  Soussai,  and  Osbern  de 
Wauci.  1  have  thought  that  the  word  Osborn  in  this 
roll  was  synonymous  with  Chieftain ;  at  least  to  desig- 
nate feudal  retainers  of  the  Conqueror  from  the  parts 
of  Normandy  mentioned. 

Undoubtedly  William  Fitz-Osbern  was  the  nearest 
personal  friend  of  William  the  Conqueror.  J.  R. 
rianche,  in  "  The  (Conqueror  and  His  Companions," 
says  he  was  and  also  that  Osbern  was  the  chief  officer 
of  the  household.  He  fought  in  all  the  battles  in  Nor- 
mandy during  the  twenty  years  which  immediately  pre- 
ceded the  invasion  of  England,  from  that  of  Val-es- 
Duncs,  in  1047,  to  that  of  Varaville,  in  10»J0,  and  took 
part  in  the  expedition  against  Conan,  in  Brittany,  and 
in  the  invasion  of  Maine  in  1063.  Osbern  is  men- 
tioned in  the  accounts  of  the  siege  of  Domfront  in  1054, 
when  he  was  sent  to  demand  an  explanation  from  Geof- 
frey Martel  of  his  conduct  in  marching  into  Normandy 
and  seizing  Alencon.  I  shall  now  quote  a  few  pages 
from  Planche's  storv  of  this  Osbern,  mostlv  because  of 
its  rather  odd  sidelight  upon  a  most  important  event  in 
hi  storv : 


"  Osbern  seems  to  have  resembled  the  Conqueror,  his  mas- 
ter, in  character,  combining  great  valor  witli  readiness  of 
wit  and  astuteness  of  policy.  We  have  seen  him  entering 
the  hall  of  the  palace  at  Rouen  humming  a  tune  and  rous- 
ing the  moody  Duke  from  his  silent  and  sullen  consideration 
of  the  news  from  England  by  bidding  him  bestir  himself 
and  take  vengeance  ujum  Harold,  who  had  been  disloyal  to 
him;  to  call  together  all  he  could  call,  cross  the  Channel  and 
wrest  the  crown  from  the  perjured  usurper.  The  Duke 
called  his  retainer  '  Osbern  of  the  Bold  Heart.' 

"  At  the  large  assembly  of  the  whole  baronage  of  Nor- 


20 


TUK  IROX  HUNTER 


mnndy   at  Lillebonno  to  consider  the  question   of  fighting' 
IlaroM,  the  audacity  and  cunning  of  Osbern  displayed  it- 
self  in  an   amazing  effrontery  that  saved  the  day  for  the 
Conqueror.     Tlie  barons  were  irresolute  and  even  rebellious. 
I  uzzh'd   and    ill   at   ease   the  council   finally   turned   to   the 
wily  Dapifer  Oshern  and  asked  him  to  be  their  spokesman; 
to  say  to  tlieir  lord  that  they  not  only  feared  the  sea  but 
were  not  bound  to  serve  him  beyond  it.     No  such  decision 
did  Oshern  voice.     Upon  the  exact  contrary,  to  the  amaze- 
ment and  confusion  of  the  nobles,  he  told  the  Duke  that 
they  were  loyal  to  a  man  and  eager  to  serve  him;  that  he 
who  should  bring  twenty  men  would  bring  fortv;  that  he 
who  was  bound  to  serve  with  one  hundred  would' bring  two 
hundred,    and    that   the   one   assigned    five   hundred    would 
bring  a  thousand  and  so  on  down  the  line  he  represented 
that  all  the  barons  woidd  double  their  quota,  thus  insuring 
success.     .\s  for  himself,  Oshern  promised  to  furnish  sixty 
ships  with  full  cr..ws  of  fighting  men.     At  first  the  ban.ns 
were  crazed  witli  indignation,  but  stupefied  and  bewildered. 
Out  of  the  wild  di.^ordcr  thus  created,  one  of  them  was  sud- 
denly stricken  with  the  idea  that  if  all  would  do  as  Osb<>rn 
had   unwarrantedly  promised  tlie  campaign  could  not  fail. 
And  one  by  one  they  consented." 

Taylor'.s  list  f  William  the  Conqueror's  ships  puts 
Osbern  at  the  head  and  agrees  with  Wace  that  he  fur- 
mshed  sixty  ships  and  crews.  The  record  reads: 
"Hahuit  a  Willielmo  Dapifero,  filio  Osberni  LX 
naves." 

At  another  time  Wace  tells  of  Osbern's  chiding  the 
Conqueror  before  a  battle,  demanding  less  delay  and 
indecision.  He  commanded  the  men  from  Boiilogne 
and  Paix,  rode  a  horse  covered  from  head  to  tail  with 
fine  woven  iron  chain  armor.  Even  thougli  Osbern  was 
the  only  companion  of  the  Conqueror  who  ever  dared 
to  cross  him  or  bluntly  advise  him,  he  was  much  loved 
and  was  granted  lands,  position  and  honor  in  England 
by  William  after  the  Conquest,  and  he  and  his  family 


WHAT'S  IN  YOUR  NAME  OR  MINE     21 

hav  •  never  since  been  separated  from  the  history  of 
En-land. 

The  Norse  Osborns  wore  also  an  interesting  people. 
Our  family  has  always  clung  to  the  idea  that  it  had  a 
Scandinavian  origin,  easily  tracing  the  name  histori- 
cally to  participants  in  the  Norse  invasion  of  England. 


CHAPTER  III 


NATURAL   BORX    REBELS 

OSnORX  is  tlio  English  corruption  for  polar  hear 
or^roflboar  in  Danish,  Swedish  and  Norwegian, 
whether  spelled  rsbjorn,  Eshierne  or  otherwise. 
Our  family  story,  is  that  our  ancestor  was  one  of  two 
jiirls,  who  <rot  into   Kn-rland   at  the  invasion  of  800. 
The    other    was    promptly    killed,    and    sometimes    I 
fear    I    have    made    certain    persons    wish    both    had 
heen.     George   the    Settler   brought  one   wing  of  our 
family  to  America  and  others  came  during  the  Hufrc- 
not  hegira  to  :\rassachusetts.     The  fact  that  there  w"^as 
much  titled  nohih'ty  in  the  familv  did  not  keep  some 
of  my  forbears  from  being  rebels.     Thev  fought  with 
Cromwell  in  the  Black  Watch  and  with  the  Irish  kin-s 
For  so  long  had  they  lived  in  the  British  Isles  that  they 
were  scattered  throughout  England,  Ireland,  Scotland 
and  ^\  ales.     To  this  day  a  royal  chateau  on  the  Isle  of 
Alight  bears  our  family  name  and  the  favorite  vacht 
of  King  Edward  VII  bore  it  also.     A  lot  of  us  must 
liave  been   naturally  democratic  despite  those  of  the 
family  who  courted  royal  favor.     Everv  movement  of 
reform  from  the  time  of  King  ,Iohn  and  the  affair  at 
Kunnymede  and  on  through  the  religious  wars  has  been 
participated  in  by  my  kinsfolk.     The  American  Revo- 
hUion   found  most  of  the  family  in  Xew  Jersey  and 
^ew  York.     As  usual,  a  split  occurred.     Some  became 
rebels  under  Washington  and  others  were  Tories-  later 

22  ' 


NATURAL  BORN  REBELS 


23 


these  mostly  went  back  to  England  or  moved  to  Canada. 
To  make  a  dii^tinction  the  rebels  dropped  the  final  "  e  " 
and  spelled  their  name  ''  Oshorn."  The  Tories  re- 
tained the  "  e  "  and  so  ashamed  were  they  of  my  grand- 
sires  that  many  of  them  made  even  greater  changes  in 
spelling,  such  as  Osbourne,  and  even  Gisborne.  Some 
of  the  Gisbornes  got  as  far  away  from  us  as  they  easily 
could  by  going  to  New  Zealand,  where  they  founded  a 
flourishing  town.  During  a  visit  to  Gisborne  I  had 
many  talks  about  our  common  ancestors  with  my  dis- 
tant relatives,  and  much  wholesome  laughter. 

My  twice  great  grandfather,  John  Osborn,  was  a 
revolutionary  chaplain  and  an  uncle  was  a  captain. 
Several  others  served  as  privates.  The  record  of  all 
is  good  without  being  especially  dramatic. 

My  grandfather,  Isaac  Osborn,  was  born  in  a  fishing 
village  on  the  northwest  coast  of  Long  Island,  in  1795. 
He  carried  a  musket  as  a  private  in  the  War  of  1812, 
and  was  slightly  wounded  at  Lundy  Lane.  In  1818 
he  was  married  to  Sarah  Pardee  at  Guilford,  Connecti- 
cut. One  of  my  grandmother's  uncles  had  a  private 
French  school  at  New  Haven,  in  the  vicinity  of  where 
Yale  College  was  afterward  located.  The  fact  that  she 
was  a  refined  young  woman  only  made  hor  more  eager 
to  help  make  powder  and  mold  bullets  during  the  War 
of  1812.  The  same  heroic  tendency  inspired  to  abet 
my  grandfather  in  his  pioneering  dreams.  Finally 
they  started  to  cross  the  Alleghenies  with  an  ox  team. 
Following  the  trail  of  westward  emigration  my  grand- 
father located  on  the  Ohio  River  at  Madison,  Indiana. 
He  had  been  a  fisherman  and  it  was  not  such  a  big 
change  to  become  a  riverman.  It  was  not  long  before 
he  owned  a  flat  boat  and  soon  afterwards  we  find  him 
trading  as  far  down  river  as  New  Orleans.     He  would 


24 


TIIK  IROX  HUNTER 


steer  liis  liiden  lioafs  down  tlio  nirretit  and  sell  his 
('•.\r>:o  and  also  hU  seows  wherever  the  hest  trade  could 
he  made.      Then  he  would  return  home  overland. 

There  eanie  a  day  wlien  ho  did  not  return.     Grand- 
mother told  me  when   I  was  a  little  Iwiy  that  grand- 
father had  a  fleet  of  five  flat  boats  on  his  last  trip,  laden 
with  a  miseellaneous  assortment  of  ho^s,  rattle,  wheat, 
corn,  mai)le  suirar,  furs,  beans,  and  so  forth.     He  ex- 
peeted  to  realize  between  four  and  live  thousand  dol- 
lars for  his  outfit.     He  was  last  heard  of  after  sellin^T 
out  at   Xew  Oi  leans   and   starting  for  homo.     Years 
afterward  a  h.t  of  skeletons  wore  fojind  in  a  hole  in  a 
eellar  underneath  a  tav.'rn  that  was  a  kind  of  a  back- 
woods, halfway  house,  near  where  ^Memphis  now  stands, 
where  river  traders  horsehacking  north  were  accommo- 
dated.    Tt  turned  out  to  be  a  worse  murder  trap  than 
the  Benders  had  in  Kansas.     So  far  as  over  could  be 
learned  my  grandfather  was  one  of  the  manv  murdered 
at  that  place.     II,.  had  had  all  of  his  capital  invested 
in  the  outfit.     Tt  left  my  grandmother  almost  destitute. 
She  just  waited  long  enough  for  my  father,  George  Au- 
gustus Oshorn.  to  be  born,  a  posthumous  child,  Febru- 
ary 2S,  1S23,  and  then  moved  up  to  Cincinnati  and,  as 
she  was  fitted  for  the  profession,  became  a  school  teacher 
until  she  married  Amos  Davis  as  her  second  husband, 
^fy  father  was  twelve  years  old  at  tlie  time.     He  had 
learned  to  chew  tobacco  and  swear  on  the  river  levee 
by  the  time  he  was  three  years  old.     I  remember  now 
with  what  needless  chagrin  ho  would  discuss  liis  boy- 
hood with  me  —  after  he  had  become  a  man  of  as  much 
probity  of  character  as  J  have  ever  known,  and  a  total 
abstaiiK-r  from   all   forms  of  tobacco  and  liquor.     He 
rebelled  at  once  against  the  new  step-daddv  and  very 
soon  afterward  ran  away  from  home.     Bv  the  time  he 


XATFRAL  \iOnS   HEHKLS 


was  ciirlitePM  ho  had  iiHiuirod  quite  some  education,  and 
owned  a  little  water-power  saw  mill  in  the  baekwoods 
of  Ohio,  where  only  the  l»est  walnut  lo^rs  were  ripped 
up.  the  rest  ^'oin<,'  into  rails  or  wood  or  brush  tires. 

Amos  Davis  was  a  leading  spiritualist,  and  was  said 
to  have  possessed  the  must  numerous  library  of  Inxiks 
u]u,v   sj)irifnalism   west  of  the   Allegheny   Mountains. 
My  father,  who  had  beeonie  a  Wesleyan,  grew  to  hate  his 
stepfather,  and  in  seeking  afterwards  for  a  reason  was 
inclined  to  attribute  this  to  the  spiritualism  excitant. 
He  confessed    to   me   that  he   burned   his  stepfather's 
books  every  chance  he  got,  and  was  encouraged  to  do  so 
by  his  Wesleyan  Sunday  school  teacher,  which  glimpses 
the  pioneer  Buckeye  intolerance  of  the  day.      In  this 
way,  to  my  deep  regret,  most  of  the  great  Davis  library 
disappeared.     T    inherited    a   few   of   the    books,    and 
strange   enough    are   they.     One   is   an   "Epic   of  the 
Starry  ireavens."  presumed  to  have  been  written  bv  dis- 
emlM>died  poets,  but  proving  that  a  poet  can  be  no  worse 
while  in  the  body.     Another  is  a  mysterious  work  de- 
voted   to  Hie   subject   of   "Spiritual    Transference  of 
Thought,"  and  even  of  more  substantial  tilings.     As  a 
boy  I  used  to  devour  this  ghost  book  until  I  could  not 
sleep  of  nights.     I^ut  none  of  it  would  my  father  have. 
He  sawed  walnut  lumber,  built  houses',  hunted  cata- 
mounts, deer,  coons  and  sipii-u-ls,  wrestled  and  studied 
medicine  with  an  old  doctor  of  the  horse-svringc  school. 
It  was  while  in  the  backwoods  of  Pnp.a  Co.intv.  Ohio 
at  the  village  of  Circleville,  that  he  met  and  married 
Margaret  Ann  Fannon,  my  sainted  mother.     She  was 
the  most  superb  woman  I  have  ever  known,  and  I  try 
to  think  of  her  apart  from  being  my  mother  so  that 
I  can  be  certain  she  was  most  wonderiful  as  all  mothers 
.ire  wnnd.rful.     I  do  not  know  much  about  her  family 


26 


THE  I  HON'  IIUXTER 


Imthusp  both  of  her  paronts  died  of  n  mystorious  sickness 
wifliin  two  davs,  wlioii  my  iiiotlior  was  a  babe  in  arras. 
Tlic  disease  was  called  "  milk  sickness."  Nobody  knew 
anytliin^  alH)nt  it  or  how  to  enre  it,  nor  do  they  to  thit 
time.  Diiririf?  a  eritieal  epoch  in  Ohio  and  Indiana 
hundred.--  of  pioneers  died  from  it.  It  was  more  deadlv 
than  the  Indians  and  beside  it  "fever  and  apir  "  were 
just  nothin;;  at  all.  It  was  supposed  to  l)e  caused  by 
poisoned  milk  because  it  occurred  at  a  certain  time 
when  the  cows  raiifred  in  the  woods  and  pastured,  feed- 
ing; upon  many  stranjre  herbs.  Dr.  Victor  Vauffhan, 
dean  of  the  medical  school  of  the  Tniversity  of  Mioh- 
ifran,  than  whom  there  is  not  a  more  earnest  devotee 
of  medical  research  in  the  world,  writes  to  me  that  the 
"milk  sickness"  so-called  of  the  pioneer  days  in  the 
Ohio  and  Wabash  basin,  was  and  is  yet  a  medical  mvs- 
tery.  Happily  it  disappeared  when  the  land  was  cul- 
tivated. 

My  mother  was  born  at  Cireleville.  Piqna  County, 
Ohio,  April  W,  1827.  She  was  of  immediate  Prot- 
estant Irish  descent,  althonjjh  her  grandfather  on  her 
mother's  side  was  a  AIcGrath  and  a  great  grandfather 
was  a  McKenna.  When  her  parents  died,  leaving  her  a 
homeless,  helpless  baby,  a  big-hearted  neighboring  fam- 
ily named  Iloblett  took  her  to  "raise."  The  Tlobletta 
had  numerous  children  of  their  own  but.  as  it  was  with 
most  of  the  pioneers,  there  was  plenty  of  room  around 
the  warm  hearth  stone  of  their  hearts.  Children  were 
always  b(>ing  desolated  by  one  tragedy  or  another  and 
in  belief  that  theirs  might  be  next,  a  feeling  developed 
that  insurance  for  the  future  could  only  be  had  by  acts 
of  kindness  on  all  sides.  It  is  not  a  bad  investment 
to-day  and  can  be  depended  upon  right  now  to  pay  royal 
dividends  of  happiness. 


XATUILVL  BORX  KEBELS  27 

Tho  TIoMctt^  saw  to  if  that  the  oagorncss  mv  mntlicr 
showed    for    .'cariiin^r   fli,|    „of    ^,o    unappeascd.     They 
gave  her  as  ;;(>(k1  a  cliaiicc  as  tlicir  own  vouiij^stcrs  had 
and  she  took  advaiita-c  of  it,  with  the"  result  that,  al- 
thoun;h  s.-hoois  Were  crud..  a.id  trachors  rcpuillv  so,  my 
moth..r  had  a  better  education  in  her  £rirIh.K)d  than  most 
.vounfr  women  of  the  tin.e.     This  she  improved  every 
di..v  of  her  long  and  usefnl  lif,..     Of  eourse  she  could 
cook,  and  knit,  and  weave,  and  on  a  pineh  she  was  a 
good  rifle  shot,  allM.it  she  did  not  like  wantonlv  to  kill 
things.     In   this   sentiment   as   in   all   things  she  was 
truly  womanly. 

The  supernal  matrix  of  lifo  has  an  instinctiv     re- 
spect for  all  sentient  things. 

One  evening  in  th(.  Autumn  a  fat  young  buck  joined 
the  homestead  herd  of  cattle  that  was  foraging  near  the 
log  eabin.  There  was  no  one  at  home  except  mv  mother, 
i  he  deer  would  mnke  the  very  best  jerked  venison  for 
winter  use.  My  mother  took  the  big  rifle  down  from 
Its  deer  horn  rack,  softly  opened  the  little  window 
enough  to  admit  the  barrel,  poked  it  through  and  shot 
the  deer.  I  think  this  story  fevered  my  boyish  blood 
more  than  any  other. 

%  mother  was  almost  twenty  years  old  when  she  was 
married  to  my  father.     This  occurred  in  April,  1847. 
My  father  was  twenty-four.     Tt  was  getting  to  be  too 
tame  around  Circleville  for  my  father,  so  they  soon 
made  up  their  minds  to  trek  to  Indiana.     Their  first 
••J.ild    Eugene,  was  born   in  Ohio  and  then  the  little 
fan.ily  ,n  1848  started  off  through  the  woods  for  the 
>vest.     From  that  moment  their  lives  were  filled  with 
work  and  unrest.     They  entered  government  land  in 
Blackford  County,  Indiana,  and  fought  malaria  there. 
It  was  deadly.     Two  children  died  its  victims.     Other 


•_'s 


THK  IRON  HUXTKK 


liltic  nnos  oamc  to  take  tlicir  plaro.  Tlirro  moro  wern 
f)orn  in  IJluokfctnl.  two  dnii^rlitcrs  suul  a  xoii —  Kinina, 
Gcorpana  and  Stf'phcn  Pardee,  named  for  inv  paternal 
Krandmothor's  brother,  wlio  had  entered  htrids  in  what 
is  now  the  heart  r)f  Chieajio.  On  the  land  occupied 
there  by  my  parents  oil  and  f?as  wells  of  {rreat  value 
were  found  later.  In  Isr.S  they  moved  to  Huntington 
('(•unty,  Indiana,  where  prospects  for  health  and  life 
seemed  iM-tter.  My  father  had  Ix'come  a  doctor  and  my 
mother  had  Iwen  stiidyinj,'  medicine  with  him.  They 
had  some  pra<'tice  but  not  onoujib  to  alTord  .;  living. 
To  eke  out,  my  father  kept  a  little  store,  iMtufibt  walnut 
timber,  which  was  coming  to  have  a  small  market  value, 
and  industriously  traded. 

Kxciting  times  had  brewed.  Even  before  leaving 
Ohio  my  father  had  l)econie  a  devoted  abolitionist  and 
was  so  earnest  that  he  often  aided  negroes  running  away 
to  (Canada  by  driving  Allen's  '' under;;ronnd  "  railway, 
an  inclosed  night  wagon  that  was  used  f(jr  spiriting 
negroes  northward.  In  the  *'  Tippecanoe  and  Tyler 
too,"  log-cabin  campaign  he  had  marched  and  carried 
a  torch  and  a  coon-ski  ti  banner  and  had  riotously  sung 
songs,  and  even  tried  to  vote  although  he  was  only  a 
slip  of  a  l)oy.  His  open  endeavor  to  vote  before  of  age 
was  a  joke  in  the  neighborhood  for  years.  All  this  in- 
sured that  he  would  have  part  in  the  inflammatory 
drama  that  was  enacted  in  Indiana  just  before  and  dur- 
ing the  war.  No  one  who  is  not  familiar  with  those 
border  social  conflagrations  can  understand  them  at  all. 
Bitterness  was  not  common  in  the  far  South  until  actual 
war  was  translated  there.  Xor  did  the  furnace  of  pas- 
sions reach  such  a  great  incandescence  farther  north. 
It  was  where  the  north  and  south  came  together  along 
that  liiie  of  fri<'tional  contnct  rin  by  Mason  and  Dixon, 


NATURAL  IJOHN  KKBELS  29 

that  the  foeliriir  assumrd  a  ficrro  raiifor  that  made  for 
nioMomi.nia  and  homiridiil  ..l.x.Hnn.     'I'hcre  wvw  i.M.r.- 
CnpiK-rhcud-s  than  Union  nicn  in  our  part  of  Hunting- 
ton County,  htit  fhi-y  ranie  vcrv  far  from  having  their 
mvn  way.     A  Union  thig  was  hoisted  at  the  log  seh.M.l 
housf,  and  a  bloody  tight  in  whieh  Ixiwic  knives  and 
ritlcA  w.TC  used  <'ame  off  when  the  Copperheads  tried  to 
pull  It  down  hut   faih-d.      Thr  Southen.  sympathizers 
wore  l)utt.'rnuts  as  insignias  of  their  sentiments      Thr'r 
women  were  espe,-ially  viole..t.      More  than  onee  a  riot 
hroke  out  on  Sunday  at  the  servi.-es  in  the  h,g  meeting 
house.      Afen  wouhl  gonerally  go  for  the  open,  but  the 
women  wouhl  pull  eaeh  other  (»ver  th,"  benehes,  tear  and 
serateh  and  pummel  and  drag  eaeh  other  around  bv  the 
iiair. 

It  is  diffieult  to  adjust  the  mind  to  a  realization  that 
these  things  happened  sueh  a  short  time  ago.  We  have 
made  advanees  on  our  way  but  the  trail  we  must  travel 
IS  still  a  long  one  and  so  ..ften  verv  dim. 

Fii  ^uch  an  atmosphere  I  was  l)orn  Jaiiuarv  oo   jsoo 
■  n  Huntington  County.  Indiana,  in  a  little  h.g  house' 
of  two  rooms  with  one  real  glass  window  and  two  others 
of  greased   paper.     Wabash,    in    an   enjoining  eountv 
fourteen  miles  away,  w-as  our  big  town.     It  had  a  pop- 
ulation  of  over   two   hundred.     Ther,.   were   meetiil^ 
houses  at  .Ktua,   Lagro,   Dora  and   New   Holland,  all 
near  by,  and  alKJut  equidistant  in  vari<,us  din^-tions. 
^ot  far  away  were  the  Wabash,  the  Salimoni,.  and  the 
Aliss.ss.niwa  nvers,  beautiful  streams  full  of  ehannel 
eats  and  silver  bass,  now  stealing  quietlv  along  some 
^pooled  dark  bank  only  to  burst  over  a  limeston'e  led^ 
with  golden  transpareney  and  jolly  gurglings   lust  liL 
the  eomplexion  and  laughter  of  a  h!^JrJri 
Judging  from  what  I  have  been  told  by  my  parents 


.•{0 


TIIK  IKON  lirXTKH 


iiiid  sisters  iiiid  o|.1<t  l.n.fli<rs.  I  was  one  of  tliosp  puny 

I'i'l'i.s  fliat  iikkIi'iii  (Miir.iiir,  would  niiidriiiii  to  infantile 

d.iiili,  iiid.cd  a   pracfiil   i>.ii.'  ..f  lif,.  compared  with 

i-iini.iiiir  the  ■raiintlct  ..f  Ainrriraii  |Miliiics  and  hiisincss, 

I'lil  not  ncarl.v  so  en  joyahlc      I  ronid  di^rcst  notliinir  and 

liiid,  anionf;  ofl.cr  tliintrs,  a  l.io..dy  tlnx  that  drainc-d  niv 

l>o'ly  of  almost  the  last   vital  spark.      But  my  iri..ther 

was  in  advance  of  her  time  in  hahy  raisinfr.     She  made 

^'rue!  for  me  of  the  irerm  scrapings  near  the  coh  of  ^rreen 

swc-t  corn.     This,   with   the  delicate  pulp  just  inside 

tlie  skill  of  the  ;L'rape.  suppli.'d  nutrition.     ("))itdoors  in 

the  air  ni-iht  iiiid  day.  with  rides  on  old  "  Snip,"  h«'ld  on 

a  pillow,  and  walks  in  the  same  fashion  won  me  stren<rth 

slowly.      ()nce  they  lost  me  .)ir  a  pillow.      It  took  a  fiiJht 

every  miinite  for  three  years  to  save  my  life.      Kven 

then  the  Hrst  words  I  spoke  as  a  halw  were  "  Solly  me  " 

—  sorry  me. 

^ly  earliest  recollection  is  of  seein;,'  .soldiers  in  blue 
uniforms  and  of  fellini;  a  lie  to  my  mother.     There  i.s 
no  connection  hetween  th.-m.     My  mother  to  pet  rid  of 
me  and  amuse  me  nuide  a  fishiiii;  outfit  for  me  by  tying 
a  thread  to  a  jiad  on  which  she  fastened  a  i)iii  hook 
halted  with  a  little  piece  of  plantain  leaf.     With  this 
she  said  I  mijrht  -o  to  a  little  nearby  ditch  and  fish  for 
fro<rs.     1  do  not  even  know  whether  there  were  froga 
or  fish  but  [  think  none.     However  I  returned  with  a 
famous  story.     I  told  my  mother  that  I  caught  so  manv 
tro-s  that    I   could   not  carry  them  and   that  then   I 
stopped  catching  frogs  and  caught  fish  and  also  caught 
so  many  of  them  that  I  could  not  carrv  tliem.     She  did 
not  ask  me  why  I  had  not  brought  all  I  could  carrv, 
l)Ut  with  much  sober  concern  (piietlv  took  me  bv  the 
hand  and  carrying  a  large,  homemade  bag  in  the  other, 
started  down  to  the  ditch.     Mv  alarm  was  terrible      T 


NATURAL  IJORX  HEUKLS 


91 


had  not  looked  ahcu.l  jit  all  and,  as  I  wa^  not  vet  four 
3^curs   old,    tJiis   did    not    l^^tokcn   al.nnrinal    st"u{.idity. 
On  the  wav   I   tri.d  to  cniniiicf  ni.v  niotluT  that  the 
frogs  and  fish  niijjht  all  havt-  jumped  hack  in;  that  iu 
fart  niMst  of  them  had  hcfore  ]   Icff.     S|„.  asked  me 
whv  I  didn't  hring  homo  sn.-h  as  were  left.     After  mueh 
deep  thonj^ht  I  replied  that  they  wen-  jumpinjr  around 
so  fast  and  were  so  sliek  that  I  eouldn'f  pirk  them  up. 
On  we  went  to  the  scene  of  the  big  cat.-h.      Mv  mother 
I.K.ked  the  ground  over  and  we  marched  hack  even  more 
soIktIv  than  our  going.     Wh.-t.  we  got  to  the  house  she 
talked  to  me  al)out  the  sin  of  king.     Then  she  made  a 
lather   of   soft   soap    and    thoroughly    washed    (.ut    my 
mouth.      I  thought  it  the  nastiest  d..se  I  hud  ever  taken, 
although  childn-n  of  that  time  and  in  that  part  of  In- 
diana  w.-iv  dosed  all   the  time  with  all   sorts  of  hor- 
nhle  stnir.     After  soaping  my  mouth  mv  mother  made 
me  k.ieel  at  her  knee  and  ask  (Jod  to  forgive  me.     That 
touched  my  little  heart    and  made  an  impression,  with 
many  tears,  that  is  as  vivid  now  as  it  was  at  the  moment. 
.My  father  enlisted  for  the  war.     lie  was  promised 
an  assistant  surgeon's  position.     On  his  wav  on  horse- 
back to  IndianaiK.lis  the  beast  stumbled  and  dragged  my 
father  for  a  long  distance  through  the  woods.     His  head 
was  hurt,  several  ribs  were  broken,  his  spine  was  in- 
jured and  there  were  internal  bruises.     After  that  he 
was  an  invalid  for  the  remainder  of  his  life.     He  was 
-SIX  feet  tall,  weighed  two  hundred  pounds,  and  had  been 
a  powerful  man.     His  life  had  been  filled  with  energy 
that  drove  him  to  many  deeds.     Once  he  had  gone  foV 
a  time,  west  of  Iowa,  among  the  Indians  then  wild,  for 
study  and  exploration.     On  his  way  home  from  the  trir, 
he  had  been  the  house  guest  of  Joseph  Smith,  the  Mor- 
m.m  prophet  at  Nauv(«).     Father  told  me  that  eight 


32 


THE  IRON  IICXTER 


women  sat  at  the  table  with  the  prophet  aud  himself, 
and  he  uuderstood  all  <»f  them  were  wives.  Joseph 
Smith  was  gentle  in  his  household,  father  said,  and  al- 
though he  greatly  detested  Mormonism,  he  always  spoke 
kindly  of  Smith  and  regri'tted  his  assassination. 

Two  more  children  were  born  in  Huntington  County 
—  Iloraee  Fldwin  in  18(52  and  Charles  Kussell  in  lSfi4. 
My  mother  began  to  take  the  lead  as  a  d(K!tor.  She  had 
learned  nuieh  from  my  father.  Roth  had  strong  intel- 
lects. My  father  was  impetuous  and  extreme.  My 
mother  was  calm  and  lovely.  Roth  had  by  now  de- 
veloped lofty  characters.  In  1857  my  fatlier  had  gone 
to  Cleveland  to  study  hydropathy  at  a  sanitarium.  The 
great  water  cure  discoveries  of  Vincenz  Priessnitz  were 
taking  hold  of  America,  fostered  by  such  English  and 
American  hydropathic  propagandists  as  Gully  and 
Shew.  Heavy  dosing  was  the  order  of  the  day  until  the 
average  patient  measured  his  prospects  for  recovery 
by  the  quantity  of  nauseous  drugs  he  swallowed.  To 
pretend  to  cure  anybody  of  anything  with  just  simple 
pure  water  seemed  a  grotesquery  if  not  an  insanity. 
Rut  my  parents  were  courageous  and  would  not  fool 
anybody  even  with  a  placebo.  They  compounded  their 
own  prescriptions  and  carried  their  own  medicine  as 
did  most  practitioners  of  the  time. 

The  older  children  were  growing  up.  Grandmother 
had  been  a  school  teacher,  ily  parents  realized  the  ad- 
vantages of  schooling.  The  opportunities  in  the  back- 
woo'Is  were  slight.  So  they  decided  to  move  by  wagon 
to  T.a  Fayette.  T  had  passed  my  sixth  year,  had  helped 
to  carry  in  wild  turkeys  my  older  brother  f^ugene  had 
shot  just  back  of  our  brush  fence,  and  had  heard  the 
story  in  eager  tones  of  the  bear  tracks  in  our  deadening. 
I  had  tried  to  ride  a  bull  calf  with  the  willing  help  of 


NATURAL  BORX  REBELS 


33 


my  brothers  and  had  done  a  lot  of  thiiifrs  that  attached 
iiic  to  tlio  phu-e.     The  watermelon  patch  was  a  luscious 
plaoe,  iiiul  the  melons  grew  almost  large  enough  for  me 
to  hide  behind.     So  I  cried  when  they  talked  of  moving 
awa.v.     That  did  not  postpone  proceedings.     One  day 
the  things  had  all  been  loaded  into  three  wagons,  one  of 
them  covered  for  the  family  like  a  prairie  schooner,  and 
we  started.     We  had  three  teams  and  were  regarded  as 
rich.     T  remember  farher  and  my  older  brothers  march- 
ing beside  their  teams,  and  they  would  let  me  walk  as 
far  as  I  could.     Our  two  dogs.  Carlo  and  Rover,  would 
dart  off  the  road  after  rabbits,  or  bark  as  thev  treed 
black    and    gray    squirrels.     Not     infrequcntlv    thev 
flushed  wild  turkeys.     The  meals  we  had  on  that  trek 
were  taken  from  boxes  in  the  wagon  and  cylinder  re- 
ceptacles of  hollow  logs  with  the  ends  closed  with  skins. 
The  elders  shot  game  enroute,  and  we  got  fruit  that  was 
mostly  wild. 

The  rough  road  followed  near  the  canal  along  the 
Wabash  River.  Everybody  called  it  the  canawl.  Swift 
packets,  making  as  much  as  six  miles  an  hour,  carried 
passengers  and  mail,  and  drove  a  swash  along  the  banks 
that  looked  to  my  boyish  eyes  like  a  big  ever-running 
water  snake.  We  had  plenty  of  snakes,  too,  and  I  knew 
their  motion  — blue  racers,  blacksi.akes  and  rattlers. 
Mules  and  l)ony  horses,  driven  tandem,  plodded  along 
the  towpath  driven  by  ragged,  barefoot  and  often  hat- 
less  boys.     It  was  interesting  to  see  them  pass  the  locks. 

One  afternoon  the  wagons  started  a  down-hill  run  to 
cross  a  creek  that  flowed  into  the  Wabash.  It  was  quite 
terrifying  the  way  the  wagons  swayed,  but  the  worst 
was  to  come.  Wl.en  the  horses  were  midstream  we 
heard  a  blood-curdling  scream.  The  animals  plunged 
madly  and  ran  as  hard  as  they  could  in  the  water  as  thev 


34 


THE  IKOX  HUNTER 


won.     I  looked  out  a.id  just  ahead  and  off  to  the  left 
1  saw  a  monster  eornin^  and  the  horses  saw  it  too.     It 
was  hel(!hinff  white  smoke  and  sparks,  and  I  was  cer- 
tiiin  we  must  he  near  tlie  ^rateway  of  hell  and  that  this 
was  the  devil  i^hout  to  eatch  us  and  dra^  us  in.     I  had 
never  seen  or  heard  of  a  locomotive  and  had  not  seen 
an  enfrine  of  any  kind.     The  fear  it  caused  in  me  could 
not  he  overdrawn.     It  was  an  old  wood-hurner  on  what 
was  then  tlie  new  Wahash  Valley  Railroad,  afterwards 
the  Toledo.  Wahash  .t  Western,  and  now  the  Wahash. 
i  lie  youn-  children  could  not  realize  and  the  older  ones 
knew  hetter,  so  T  had  a  monopoly  of  fri-ht.     There 
were  seven  of  us  children  on  this  expedition,  the  young- 
est two  years  and  the  eldest  eijrhteen. 

How  many  women  to-lay  would  dream  of  starting 
on  a  single  day's  railroad  journey  with  seven  children? 
However,  I  think  they  would  if  they  had  to.  because 
uomen  to-day  are  confronted  hv  more  dangers  than  their 
mothers  were.  Social  pitfalls  are  worse  than  ever  were 
Indian  amhushes,  and  the  suffering  and  death  thev 
.nng  are  worse  than  the  scalping  wounds,  or  the  toma- 
hawk hacks  of  the  gauntlet  that  maimed  only  the  body 
jMid  left  the  heart  purer  and  the  soul  more  serene  than 
hetore. 

We  were  over  two  weeks  on  the  road.  On  rainy  days 
we  mostly  camped  while  the  older  males  liunted  and 
hshed  for  the  larder.  There  was  no  travel  on  Sunday, 
and  on  Monday  we  stopped  to  permit  mother  and  the 
giris  to  do  our  washing. 

In  this  way  we  moved  to  LaFayette.  Soon  we  were 
sumptuously  installed  in  a  hig,  three-story,  frame  house, 
with  four  acres  of  grounds  surrounding,  and  barns,  out- 
bnil.lmgs,  fruit  trees,  shrubs,  flowers  and  gardens. 
Contrast  tins  with  the  woods  and  the  little  log  house 


XATURAL  BORX  REBELS 


as 


we  had  left.     We  children  thou-ht  it  vvjis  a  palace  and 
our  lather  a  kinjr.     Aunt  Goldthwaite  had  come  out 
some  time  l)cfore  from  Connecticut  to  visit  us  and  told 
us  fairy  storio.  just  enoujrh  to  make  us  wonder  and 
credit  to  th..  fairies  all  the  thin-s  we  could  not  under- 
s^ind.     .Aly  present  from  Aunt  Goldthwaite  was  a  toy 
watch  —  wc  called  it  a  "  dumh  "  watch  then.     X(.  Wal- 
tham.    Patek-Phillii)pc   „r    Jursireson    since    has    been 
worth  a  quarter  as  much  !      Down  below  the  hill  reposed 
tlic  city,  and  just  then   LaFayette  was  a  sleepv  place. 
Xear  by  were  nei,irhl)ors.      Evrvthing  was  as  different 
as  It  could  be.     W,>  bad  a  real  lamp  with  something 
green  m  the  oil   1m,w1  and  a  ground  glass  globe  and 
shining  chimney.     It  was  kept  in  the  parlor,  that  holv 
of  holies  of  the  time,  and  never  lighted.     Candles  made 
our  light,  and  father  us.-d  two  at  a  time  when  be  read, 
and  snuffed  them  with  bis  fingers  in  a  mamier  that  fired 
all  of  us  with  emulation. 

The  big  house  liad  a  huge  cellar.     Soon  there  were 
mysterious  goings  on  in  it.      My  eldest  brother  was  the 
only  one  of  the  children  permitted  the  secret.     But  we 
learned   when   the  time   came  that   father   was  an  in- 
ventor; that  he  bad  devised  one  of  the  first  stoves  with 
an  oven  and  that  now  be  bad  designed  a  washin-  ma- 
chine.    We  did  not  know  that  nearlv  ev(>rvbodv  of  that 
period  had  invented  a  washing  macliine.  so  when  father 
.-old  out  his  patents  for  what  seemed  a  large  amount  of 
money  we  took  it  as  a  matter  of  course.     All  of  us  had 
bad  plenty  to  eat  and  good  enough  clothing  up  to  that 
tune.     But  with  the  sah-  of  tl...  patent  came  still  better 
days.     Mother  ba.l  tu..  bh,.-k  silk  dresses  and  father, 
wherever  he  got  the  idea,  donned  a  frock  coat  and  plug 
bat.      I  had  seen  a  daguerre.)type  of  him  as  a   voutb 
with  a  bi-aver  on,  and  I  know  he  was  familiar  with  the 


36 


THK  IKON  UUXTER 


advice  of  Polonius  to  Laertes.  Then  he  went  to  In- 
dianapolis and  entered  tlie  Indiana  Medical  College, 
where  he  received  a  de^ee. 

Once  wliilc  fuflier  was  absent  the  household  was 
aroused  in  the  nii,'lit  by  thunderous  knocks  and  loud 
calls,  r.ood  old  Charley  Kurtz,  a  neighbor  butcher, 
called  "Old  Charley"  because  he  had  a  son  called 
"  Young  Charley,"  on  his  way  home  from  the  Oddfel- 
lows, discovered  that  our  house  was  on  fire.  It  got  a 
good  start  in  the  cellar,  that  was  full  of  shavings  from 
the  washing  machine  models  that  were  kept  for  kin- 
dling. It  gave  me  one  of  the  big  scares  of  my  young  life. 
I  escaped  from  the  family  circle,  and  in  an  obsession 
of  excitement  ran  wildly  al)out  the  place  in  my  nightie. 
I  was  seven.  There  was  a  big  patch  of  gooseberry 
bushes.  Their  thorns  tore  my  limbs  and  body  when  I 
repeatedly  ran  through  them  as  I  cried  out  frantically 
for  help. 

The  last  child,  William  Douglas,  was  Iwrn  in  1867, 
making  ten  in  all  with  eight  living  —  three  girls  and 
seven  boys,  with  two  girls  and  six  boys  living  as  I  write 
these  notes  in  1U16. 


CHAPTER  IV 

POVERTY   THAT   CBAMP8   AXU   THEN    EXPANDS   THE   SOTTL 

EARLY  in  18(J8  something  happened  to  our  fam- 
ily fortunes.  I  do  not  know  what  it  was  more 
tlian  that  my  father  lost  all  of  his  monev,  every 
cent.  It  actually  took  the  earpets  off  the  floors  to  pay 
out  and  there  was  no  hesitation  about  permitting'  them 
to  be  taken.  It  was  one  of  those  oeeurrenees  that  are 
continually  happenin":  and  directly  or  indirectlv,  mostlv 
the  latter,  exert  a  great  influence  both  upon  individuals 
and  society,  serving  to  cure  pride  and  remind  man  in  a 
decisive  manner  of  his  self-insufficiency. 

All  of  a  sudden  we  were  as  a  family  translated  from 
luxury  to  necessity  -  from  affluence  to  abvsmal  pov- 
erty     It  seems  to  me  that  I  must  have  been  taken  out 
ot  the  big  house  while  asleep.     I  was  eight  years  old 
and  must  have  had  sufficient  intellect  to  comprehend 
things  to  some  degree.     Perhaps  mv  senses  were  be- 
numbed by  the  shock.     Anyhow  all  I  remember  is  that 
i  seeme<l  to  go  to  sleep  in  the  big  house  and  to  awaken 
in  a   little  frame  shack,  with  only  two  rooms  and  a 
Ipan-to.     The  big  parlor  lamp  was  gone  and  so  was  the 
parlor  and  the  base-burner  with  the  red  coals  shining 
through  the  mica.     Each  youngster  had  had  a  horse  to 
ride.     They  were  all  gone.     Two  old  crowbaits,  that 
were  dying  of  old  age  and  were  a  liabilitv,  and  were 
only  kept  in  deference  to  a  creditable  sentiment,  re- 
mained.    W  c  called  them  "  Baldv  "  and  "  Coalie  "  be- 

37  ' 


38 


THE  IROX  IIUXTER 


cause  one  had  a  whiw  forehead  and  the  other  was  coal 
Mack.  The  Hrst  real  ti-ht  I  ."ver  had  was  wifli  a  hov 
who  shouted  aft«r  me  "  tlip-tlop!  "  "flip-flop!"  "  fljji- 
<I()p!  "  as  I  WHS  uriiinn  old  Hahiy  info  a  sort  of  earth- 
'piake,  h..ne-rackinir  trot.  He  was  rather  too  hij:  for 
nic>,  and  I  irot  a  l>loodv  nose  and  a  l)lack  eve.  He  pot 
oiKHiirh  s,)  that  he  did  not  veil  "  flip-flop!  "  at  me  ajrain. 
I  did  not  mider-tand  then  why  my  j)arents  wished 
to  keep  these  worthless  animals  and  were  so  tender  with 
them.  .\s  f..r  my>elf.  I  was  so  a-hamed  of  them  and 
so  angere.1  at  times  that  I  hate  a  "flip-flop''  to  this 
day.  Also  I  ;,in  thankful  to  have  a  feeliiiir  irrow  within 
me  that  would  not  permit  me  to  turn  out  a  faithful  old 
horse  or  do^^  to  starve  to  death. 

The  new  ahnde  is  known  in  our  familv  history  as 
"the  little  hrown  house."  Aiid  it  was  small.  The' fur- 
niture nm-^i.ted  of  i,  f,.\v  wooden  <-hairs,  a  wooden  tahle. 
poorly  e(juii)ped  IxnN.  iron  knives  and  forks,  tin  plates, 
cheap  eookin-  utensils  and  one  stove,  a  eookinjr  stove 
with  two  holes  and  a  S(piare  hox  oven  on  top  at  the  hack 
supported  hy  lonir,  spider-like  iron  le-s.  F\i(.d  was 
scaree  too.  We  ehildren  were  put  on  a  corn  meal  diet 
and  not  any  too  much  corn  meal.  Everv  Eridav  was 
hoir  killiuii  day  at  the  slaughter  house  down  on  the  old 
Plank  H(.ad.  At  sueh  times  hojrs'  hearts  eould  he  had 
lor  five  eents  a  pound.  Eather  and  mother  took  ad- 
vantajre  of  that  and  as  a  eonsecpience  we  had  hoffs'  heart 
meat  onee  a  week  and  no  meat  at  all  hetween  times.  I 
iiotieed  a  chan,ire  in  <>  -rythinff.  The  biff  do-s  were 
pone.  Only  we  had  kept  Pinkie,  a  little  black  and  tan 
feist  witli  a  hole  in  her  throat,  cut  by  a  ground  hog 
she  had  erawled  after  into  n  den. 

Eather  acted  strangely.     He  was  depressed.     I  did 
Dot  know  that  then.     He  hung  out  his  doetor  sign  and 


roVEKTV  TUAT  CKAMJ'S      39 

one  fur  mother,  too.  Also  he  would  parade  in  iV„nt  of 
the  house  u.th  hi>  l.,,,^^  eoat.  -nhJ-lu.aded  eaiie  and  silk 
hat,  which  he  had  nianaj^ed  somehow  to  hauf;  onto. 
Atter  thus  showin.ir  himself  he  would  return  to  the 
house,  i,ut  on  cotton  overalls  and  waist,  and  d.-partine 
h.v  the  r..ar  and  tl.n.u^r|,  th(>  all..y  po  to  a  remote  part  of 
town  and  work  as  a  carpenter  -  a  trade  he  had  well 
h-arned  as  a  hoy.  He  was  not  stronjr.  S.)on  he  prvw 
'ii  and  was  very  sick.  He  could  not  eat.  J)elicacie3 
were  tried. 

One  day  T  snielled  what  to  a  hunirrv  bov  was  alx)ut  the 
sweetest  odor  I  could  remember.  It  ca.ne  fro.n  the 
cook  stove  where  five  cents'  worth  of  prunes  v^-on^  sim- 
•nynn^r  ,„  „  tin  cup.  ']  hey  were  for  father  and  his  life 
inijrht  have  depended  upon  them  for  all  I  knew.  That 
did  not  shield  me  from  temptath.n.  I  nu.de  up  my 
nnn.!  to  steal  those  prunes  and  eat  then,  and  then  run 
away  to  1  exas.  My  anther  must  have  suspected  me  in 
tliat  d.vme  way  that  mothers  have.  Anvh<.w  she 
watclu.1  me  and  kept  such  a  vigil  over  the  prunes  that 
1  was  toiled. 

That   was  my  first  tangible  temptation,   and   there 

tlowed  from  ,t  my  first  crystallized  ambition.     I  made 

up  my  m.nd  then  and  there  that  when  I  became  a  man 

would  not  stop  in  my  efforts  until  T  had  all  the  prunes 

i  wished  for,  even  if  I  had  to  be  a  pirate. 

Sometimes  all  of  us  were  hungry  and  we  were  ill- 
clad  but  cleanly.  Old  clothing  was  transformed  dex- 
terously and  handed  down  from  child  to  child 

We  were  sent  to  school.  Other  children  made  fun  of 
us  because  we  were  p<K)rly  garbed.  This  made  me  so 
sensitive  and  wounded  me  to  such  an  extent  that  I 
would  not  look  at  other  children.  Fattv  Tvner,  Xigger 
Bill  and  a  German  boy  named  Thendor;  Merseh,  called 


40 


THE  IKON  ULXTKR 


by  the  urchins  "  Tatcr  :NriHli,"  as  Im-Iiij;  iichf  the  Ger- 
niHU  proimiiciatioii,  were  particiihirlv  kind  to  me. 
They  would  hack  nic  in  my  tif>lits  and  permitted  nie  to 
h-ad  them  in  expeditions  fur  nuts,  In'rries,  paw  paws, 
fishing,  and  against  the  ":Micks"  of  the  Phink  Koad. 

Always  there  seeirjed  to  be  war  among  the  boys  of 
La  Fayette.  If  some  of  us  went  to  the  "  old  sycamore  " 
to  swim  in  the  Wabash  our  enemies  were  nearly  certain 
to  come  and  muss  our  clothes,  tie  them  in  wet  knots, 
and  as  we  dragged  at  them  with  our  teeth  they  would 
deride  us  with  "  Chawed  beef  and  roasted  mutton  I 
Chawed  beef  and  roasted  mutton !  " 

W(!  learned  to  keep  a  standing  guard  and  pickets. 
If  the  Micks  outnumbered  us  we  would  run.  If  there 
was  a  fair  chance  we  stood  our  ground  and  fought,  with 
honors  ak)ut  even  from  day  to  day. 

I  learned  to  swim  at  the  ''  wide  water,"  an  impound- 
ing reservoir  used  to  adjust  the  canal  levels.  It  looked 
big  to  me  as  a  b(n-  and  it  was  over  a  man's  head  in 
depth.  A  bigger  crowd  than  ours  chased  us  away  from 
the  "  old  sycamore  "  svvinuning  hole.  We  grabbed  our 
clothing  and  ran  across  the  Wabash  bottoms  to  the  wide 
water.  I  remember  that  I  arrived  bleeding  and  sting- 
ing from  the  smarting  wounds  of  thorns  and  sandburrs. 
•Mthough  I  c<nild  not  swim  or  had  not  swum  before  I 
was  on  fire.  I  rushed  down  the  steep,  artificial  bank 
into  the  wide  water  where  it  was  about  ten  feet  in 
de])th.  I  went  to  the  bottom.  When  I  came  up  I 
struck  out  just  as  naturally  as  though  I  was  a  good 
swimmer,  not  dog  fashion,  but  a  full  sweeping  stroke. 
It  was  not  long  before  T  developed  into  a  good  swimmer. 

One  day  Nigger  Bill  showed  me  how  to  cure  warts, 
lie  was  the  son  s.f  Reverend  ilaveety,  who  preached  on 
Sunday   and   wielded   a   whitewash   brush   week  days. 


POVKKTY  THAT  CRAMPS 


n 


His  mother  knew  liovv  to  "  Kunjcr  "  he  said  and  was 
sister  of  a  hoodoo  (voo-doo)  queen.  J  was  deepl.v  im- 
pressed and  told  my  mother.  She  ordered  me  to  keep 
away  from  the  nefrro  Ixiy  and  told  me  the  rules  he  gave 
me  were  foolish. 

I  still  had  faith  in  Nigger  Bill.  A  block  from  our 
house  lived  the  Purnells.  They  had  a  nice  little  girl 
named  Laura,  about  my  age.  She  had  more  warts  on 
her  hands  than  a  Texan  toad  and  was  (piite  proud  of 
them.  I  got  her  to  let  me  try  to  take  off  just  one  of 
them,  and  because  we  were  good  friends  she  consented. 

Nigger  Bill  had  told  me  to  take  a  piece  of  blue 
thread,  tie  it  in  a  hard  knot  over  the  wart  and  then  slip 
it  off  and  bury  it,  repeating  as  I  did  so, 

"  FToblin.  goblin,  po  an'  snort, 
Rot  in  the  groun'  an'  kill  a  wart." 

As  the  thread  rotted  the  wart  would  rot  and  come 
off.  Mystery  of  mysteries,  but  to  me  perfectly  natural 
then,  Laura  Purnell's  big  wart  on  her  left  hand,  that 
I  had  tied  the  blue  thread  over,  became  inflamed,  and 
the  swelling  communicated  to  the  entire  hand  and  arm. 
Laura  was  in  great  pain,  and  some  thought  she  might 
die.  I  was  frightened  to  death.  After  a  really  se- 
vere siege  she  recovered,  minus  the  wart.  Then  I  went 
and  dug  for  the  thread  to  see  if  it  had  rotted.  Either 
T  dug  in  the  wrong  place  or  it  had  disintegrated,  for  I 
could  not  find  it.  I  was  afraid  to  be  a  wart  doctor 
because  somebody  might  die  before  the  wart  came  off. 
Just  what  happened  I  do  not  know  unless  T  slightly  cut 
or  irritated  the  wart  and  it  was  infected  by  the  thread. 
Warts  are  not  nice  to  have  but  they  are  preferable  to 
Nigger  Bill's  cure,  in  which  there  is  the  philosophy  of 
the  ages. 


42 


THE  TROX  nnXTKR 


To  hflp  nut  I  l)ociirno  n  rnfr  pickor,  wliicli  included 
^'atlH'riiisr  old  iron  as  well.  I  pot  to  know  tlio  alleys  of 
the  town  iK'fter  tlian  tlie  streets.  Also  T  carried  n  news- 
paper route  and  sold  papers.  It  ]»ro\i,irlit  nie  into  con- 
tact with  all  phases  and  strata  of  life,  an«l  I  early  came 
to  know.  I  d(»  not  know  how  I  knew  hut  I  did,  that  Ood 
takes  espi'rial  care  of  Itoys  and  fjirls  or  there  wouldn't 
he  one  oil  earth  unc(»ntaniinated.  Down  in  the  Wahash 
hoftonis  I  used  to  see  men  and  women  derelicts.  In  tlic 
summer  they  infected  fl,f.  n„w  dry  f1(»od  lands.  I  had 
as  nnich  ahlmrreiK  of  them  as  of  a  snake.  Nobody  told 
me  about  them  or  the  preat  danjrcrs  of  boyhood.  I  just 
knew  instinctively.  an<l  I  think  other  l)oys  do. 

Once  the  circulator  of  William  S.  Lint-le's  Daily 
('(Hirirr  asked  me  to  carry  papers  \n  a  part  of  the  town 
where  the  carrier  was  always  beinji  licked  and  his  papers 
destroyed.  He  said  T  would  have  to  fiirht  and  that 
inaybe  as  many  as  twenty  boys  would  attack  me  at  once. 
I  couldn't  whip  twenty  boys  without  preparedness,  so 
I  bnuiiht  a  second-hand,  twenty-two  caliber,  seven-shot 
revolver. 

It  was  autumn.  The  coming  January  I  would  Ik? 
eleven  years  old.  Hard  knocks  and  life  in  the  alleys 
were  developing  me  fast.  I  took  the  papers  and  started 
out  really  hopiiifr  to  jret  a  chance  to  shoot  a  few  boys 
just  t(.  test  the  killiuf;  power  of  my  gun.  I  had  al- 
ready tri(^d  it  on  a  cow  out  in  the  commons,  and  when 
she  walked  away  seemingly  nnconoerned  I  was  ready 
to  take  the  revolver  back  to  the  second-hand  man.  But 
I  thought  T  might  have  better  hick  shooting  boys.  At 
the  corner  of  Thirteenth  and  Union  streets  a  colored 
boy,  possibly  a  little  larger  than  I,  came  up  to  me  in  a 
bajit(>ring  way  and  grabbed  at  my  papers.  I  forgot  my 
revolver  and  liiid  down  mv  sack  and  waded  into  the 


POVERTY  THAT  CRAMPS 


48 


Negro.  We  wore  rolliiig  around  on  the  ground  and  I 
was  getting  a  little  the  lK>st  of  him  I  thought,  until  he 
got  n\y  left  fore  arm  h'twecm  his  aharkliko  teeth.  That 
niade  me  desperate  and  caused  me  somehow  to  renienil)er 
the  gun  in  my  {MM-ket.  I  got  it  out  and  when  the  Negro 
hoy  saw  it  he  yelled  "  murder  "  and  "  help  "  and  gave 
up. 

Then  boys  l)egan  to  appear  from  everywhere,  b«it 
mostly  from  Ik'IiIihI  an  old  barn  near  by  and  from  under 
a  street  bridge  ov(r  an  open  surface  sewer  called  Pearl 
River.  Wlien  I  saw  them  I  ran  for  my  papers  and 
bolted.  The  yelling  crowd  of  l)oys  pursued  me.  I 
thought  there  must  ho  a  hundred.  Some  were  larger 
than  I.  As  I  was  ascending  to  the  sidewalk  after  cross- 
ing that  Pearl  River,  a  bigger  l)ov  struck  me  over  the 
head  with  a  broken  shinny  stick.  Down  I  went.  1  had 
already  l)een  hit  several  times  by  rocks  and  clubs  but  I 
was  not  hiirt.  Xow  was  the  time  to  use  the  revolver. 
I  pulled  it  out  and  shot  all  seven  shots  slam  into  that 
crowd.  Really  T  expected  to  kill  seven  lx>ys  at  least  and 
maybe  more.  There  was  a  scattering  in  all  directions 
and  it  wasn't  long  Ijcfore  a  [Ktl iceman  had  me.  I  don't 
know  where  he  came  from.  There  weren't  many  in  La- 
Fayette  those  days. 

He  took  my  gun  and  instead  of  taking  me  to  the 
calaboose,  as  we  called  the  local  lockup,  he  took  me 
home.  I  had  not  lost  many  papers.  As  soon  as  the 
officer  turned  me  loose  I  got  an  older  brother  to  go  with 
me  and  we  finish'^d  the  paper  delivery  that  night.  I 
hadn't  hit  a  boy.  Just  like  shooting  into  a  flock  of  any- 
thing without  picking  your  bird.  From  that  day  I 
carried  that  route  unmolested.  I  wouldn't  advise  boys 
to  follow  my  example,  even  though  in  what  I  did  I  was 
perfectly  innocent  of  intentional  wrong  doing. 


■.*.i 

.at- 


44 


TIIK  IROX  HUNTER 


As  I  grew  strongor  I  did  nil  kinds  c.f  work.  It  soems 
to  m«  now  that  the  hnrdt^t  work  of  m.v  youth  was  cut- 
tiiiK  and  rtho«'king  jyrcon  corn.  Whm  I  whs  thirteen, 
my  brother  Steve  and  I  trn.k  a  eontrnet  euttiiifr  eorn  and 
shoi-kinj,'  if  for  ten  ecnfs  a  shock  every  fonrfeen  rows 
and  fourteen  hills  of  eorn.  Those  who  know  Indiana 
eorn  nlon^  the  Wjihash  will  tliink  of  each  stalk  as  almost 
a  tree.  I  wielded  the  eorn  cutter  and  Steve  carried  tlie 
hig  heavy  hundles  and  shocked  them.  He  was  older 
by  eight  years  and  was  equal  to  the  work. 

When  I  would  be  awakened  in  the  morning  I  would 
aehe  from  head  *o  toe  and  would  \h>  so  stiff  and  sore  I 
eould  have  cried  out  with  pain  when  I  essayed  to  move. 
And  I  was  tcx)  young  to  harden  and  get  used  to  it. 

Also  I  learned  to  cradle,  rake,  bind,  mow,  stack  hay 
and  grain,  load  hay,  rive  clapboards,  split  rails  and 
chop  cordwood.  T  still  enjoy  swinging  an  ax  just  as  I 
liked  it  best  of  all  as  a  boy.  ^Umy  hardships  have  been 
my  lot  by  hind  and  sea,  if  one  calls  enjoyable,  exacting 
adventures  hardships,  but  not  one  caused  me  as  much 
suffering  as  corn  cutting  in  the  Indiana  maize  forest. 

I  went  to  Sunday  school.  My  mother  was  a  Metho- 
dist and  my  father  a  Wesleyan,  between  which  denomi- 
nations there  is  little  difference.  At  Christmas  time 
I  managed  to  get  to  six  Sunday  schools.  It  required 
no  end  of  scheming,  but  I  really  received  gifts  one 
Christmas  from  six  different  trees.  It  was  not  right  I 
now  know  but  I  thought  no  wrong  of  it  then.  In  fact, 
I  thought  a  Iwy  who  went  to  only  one  Sunday  school 
at  Christmas  time  was  downright  shiftless. 

Two  things  I  best  rememl)er  that  I  beard  in  church 
while  a  boy.  One  was  the  temperance  examples  told  by 
Francis  Murphy.  The  other  is  a  picture  of  a  devout 
Sui.day  school  suporintendent  of  the  Xintii  Street  M.  E. 


I'OVKKTV  THAT  CRAMI'S 


4.-. 


Cliuri'li  of  LaFuyctte,  nam«'<l  .1.  Q.  A.  Porrin,  as  I  slyly 
l^lanccd  at  him  wliik>  he  ro|K'at(>d  tli(>  childhood  prayer: 

Now  I  lay  me  down  to  Hlpep, 
I  prny  tho  L)r(l  my  »oul  to  keep, 

And  if  I  (liu  before  I  wake. 
I  pray  tho  Lord  my  houI  to  take. 

This  I  ask  for  Jesus'  sake. 

The  above  ia  not  the  way  Billy  Sunday  words  and  spells 
it  but  it  is  the  way  Mr.  Perrin  rtrited  it,  and  it  is  tho 
way  I  have  repeated  it  every  night  of  my  life  sinee  I 
was  nine,  with  the  alteration  sinee  I  have  had  a  wife  and 
children  to  "  our  "  instead  of  "  my."  It  is  a  selfish 
little  prayer  hut  one  does  not  have  to  stop  with  it. 

The  pangs  of  poverty  and  attendant  humiliation 
ground  into  me  more  and  more.  I  did  not  have  as  good 
clothing  as  had  the  other  boys  that  T  thought  I  would 
like  to  consort  with,  and  many  fisticuffs  grew  out  of  the 
scorn  and  derision  of  those  who  assumed  to  look  down 
upon  me.  I  did  not  win  all  these  by  any  means,  but  all 
of  them  gave  me  a  kind  of  confidence  in  myself.  T  got 
hold  of  several  dime  novels  and  read  also  the  Jack 
Ilarkaway  adventures,  and  a  lot  of  stutT  about  Jes-se 
James  and  his  brother  Frank,  who  were  just  beginning 
to  limn  on  the  lurid  horizon  of  boys'  brains.  I  also 
read  the  more  wholesome  "  .\shore  and  Afloat  "  books 
by  William  Taylor  Adams,  who  signed  himself  Oliver 
Optic.  History  began  to  unfold  to  me  interesting  pages, 
and  I  found  ornithology,  entomology,  botany  and  astron- 
omy fascinating.  Not  that  I  went  very  far  with  any 
of  them;  only  I  liked  them  better  than  mathematics. 
Zoological  and  biological  things  were  entertainment  and 
mathematics  were  study.  About  the  very  first  book  I 
read   was  a  brave  little  tome  called  "  Little  Prudy's 


46 


THE  IRON  IivjATEK 


Captain  Horaoo,"  by  Sophie  liny,  one  of  tlio  Little 
Pnidy  series  of  <lelij;htful  books  for  children.  I  was 
nine  years  of  a^'e  when  I  got  it  otf  a  IJaptist  Siuiday 
school  Christmas  tree. 

The  year  before  three  impressive  little  l)ooks  fell  into 
my  hands.  They  were  the  "  BnriiJ  of  the  Firstborn," 
by  Joseph  Alden;  "The  Little  Brown  Jng,"  bv  ]^[rs. 
('.  M.  Edwards,  and  "  X<.t  a  Minute  to  Spare,"  by  S.  C. 
I  read  all  these  before  I  was  nine.  IJeally  I  seemed  to 
partially  understand  in  "  Xot  a  Minute  toSpare  "  Tiip- 
per's  line— "now  is  the  constant  syllable  ticking  from 
the  clock  of  Time." 

At  least  forever  after  the  tick-toeks  said  to  me, 
"  Never  return,  never  returti  "  ! 

So  early  does  the  mind  .)f  the  average  child  begin  to 
function.  In  fact,  T  read  just  about  everything  T  could 
lay  my  hands  on,  including  all  the  doctor  books  I  could 
find  around  the  house. 

At  an  early  age.  too  early,  T  had  read  Gray's  "  Anat- 
omy," Dalton's  ))hysiology,  Thomas  on  "  Diseases  of 
\yonien  and  Children,"  pages  of  Dunglison's  medical 
dictionary.  Gully *s  and  also  Shew's  hydropathy. 

Fine  reading  for  a  youth  of  ten  to  twelve!  and  it 
made  me  knowing  beyond  my  years.  I  would  gather  a 
crowd  of  boys  on  the  curbstone  on  dark  nights  :ind  be- 
fon-  a  Rembrandt  fire  in  the  gutter,  with  its  vivid  chiar- 
oscuro, I  would  tell  them  the  secrets  of  these  doctor 
books  in  low  tones. 

The  greatest  horror  of  impression  would  be  made  }»v 
the  descriptions  of  awful  diseases  that  befel  men  and 
women  who  were  not  good. 

Nearly  all  of  us  had  read  "  Hobiuson  Crusoe  "  and 
"  Swiss  Family  Robinson." 

We  would  tell  riddles  and  ghost  stories  also  until  all 


POVERTY  THAT  CRAMPS 


47 


of  us  were  of  a  shiver.  Then  there  were  famous  nights 
when  we  played  ''  Blank  Lie  Low  "  and  hunted  coon 
and  'possums,  and,  best  of  all,  camping  on  the  banks 
of  the  Wabash  all  night  keeping  up  a  fire  big  enough 
for  a  lion  country,  while  those  of  us  who  were  bigger 
baited  and  ran  "trot"  lines.  We  used  liver  for  bait 
and  sometimes  we  had  a  thousand  hooks  out. 

Thev  were  fine  fish,  those  channel  cats  (siluridae), 
but  thev  would  sort  of  gurgle  and  squawk  when  we  slit 
them  just  through  the  skin  behind  their  horns,  and 
then  holding  them  between  the  fingers  of  the  left  hand 
would  pull  off  the  skin  with  pincers  in  the  right  hand. 

The  niggers  used  to  say  that  the  catfish  were  trying  to 
tell  what  they  would  do  to  us  when  they  were  men  and 
we  were  catfish,  and  their  strange  metempsychosis  folk 
lore       de  a  deep  impression. 

Wi^;  Doys  thought  we  could  see  the  catfish  squirm,  like 
eels  and  frog  mi  t  do  when  first  put  into  a  hot  frying 
pan.  This  the  niggers  said  was  nothing  to  the  way  bad 
boys  would  squirm  in  hell. 

All  through  the  dimmest  social  fabric  there  seemed 
to  run  the  certainty  that  good  is  rewarded  and  bad  is 
punished,  which  must  have  been  one  way  the  Creator 
has  of  manifesting  a  fundamental  truth. 

Boys  were  wild  and  adventurous  but  they  were  not 
nasty  or  impure,  and  if  there  was  a  degenerate  unfor- 
tunate he  soon  come  to  be  marked  and  shunned. 

I  wish  to  believe  that  that  is  the  way  of  boys  to-day. 


CHAPTER  V 

Wri-D   BOYHOOD    PRKAMS    Fill,    MY    MIXP   AND   I   ACT 
UPON    THEM 

My  parents  would  toach  us  American  history 
traditionally  and  tlic.v  were  hotli  well  informed. 
As  my  father  loved  or  hated  so  did  I  come  to 
do.  He  could  not,  without  ra<re.  think  of  Simon  Girty, 
who,  as  an  En^'lish  ajrent  in  Canada,  had  aroused  the 
border  Indians,  and  was  charpied  with  payinj;  them  fifty 
cents  for  the  scalp  of  an  American  white  woman  and 
seventy-five  cents  to  a  dollar  for  the  scalp  of  a  man,  but 
only  twenty-five  cents  for  a  child  or  a  frray-haired  scalp. 
Some  of  our  relatives  had  met  this  fate  and  it  has  left 
a  bitterness  that  even  I  liave  to  stru^rgle  against  to  this 
day. 

N'ext  to  the  bloody  dirty  my  father  hated  Aaron  Burr 
and  so  did  I.  He  was  wont  to  say  that  Jeff  Davis  was 
a  gentleman  b(>side  Burr  and  his  tool  Blennerhassett, 
and  tliat  Benedict  Arnold  had  not  been  worse.  His 
condemnation  of  Henry  Clay  was  because  Clay  had  been 
Burr's  attoniey.  Father  was  intolerant  of  anybody  who 
would  hire  out  his  talents  to  criminals.  He  loved  Alex- 
ander Hamilton  as  the  greatest  American,  and  always 
put  Washington  as  secondary  to  Hamilton.  To  his 
mind  Lee  and  Stonewall  .Tackson  and  Alliert  Sydney 
Johnston  were  misguided  good  men,  and  of  the  three 
lie  placed  Albert  Sydney  Johnston  first.  He  told  me 
stories  of  Daniel  Boone,  Simon  Kenton  and  Davv  Croek- 

48 


WILD  BOYHOOD  DREAMS 


49 


ott  and  their  oontcmj)oraries  until  I  forthwith  got  an 
old  Iwrcd-out  army  musket  and  hid  it  under  the  shed, 
as  against  the  time  when  I  would  hecome  an  Indian 
tighter.  Soon  I  was  ahle  to  grind  down  a  corncutter 
blade  into  tlie  most  savage-looking  bowie  knife  I  have 
ever  seen. 

These  preparations  were  soon  followed  by  a  decision 
to  run  away,  which  was  promptly  acted  upon.  My  first 
adventure  of  this  kind  was  when  I  was  ten  years  of  age. 
With  an  older  lx)v  named  John  Godfrey,  son  of  a  l)el- 
ligorent  ifethodist  preacher  named  Samuel  Gf)dfrey, 
the  best  silver  bass  fisherman  on  the  Wabash  *'  riffles," 
I  started  out.  We  got  nearly  fifty  miles  away  before 
our  parents  caught  us. 

Without  discouragement  I  kept  at  running  away  two 
or  three  times  a  year  until  I  succeeded.  Once  I  got 
clear  away  on  a  raft  and  with  the  two  other  boys  floated 
down  the  Wabash  to  the  Ohio  and  quite  a  distance 
into  the  Mississippi.  We  were  gone  several  months  and 
had  enough  adventure  to  fill  a  book. 

My  longi'st  runaway  absence  was  when  I  went  into 
the  wild  ilichigan  lumber  woods  in  Newaygo  County 
near  the  present  village  of  Uungerford.  I  spent  a  win- 
ter in  the  camps  as  a  cookw  and  chore  boy.  In  the 
spring  I  worked  in  a  saw  mill  and  shingle  mill.  That 
winter  I  got  a  terrible  thrashing.  There  was  a  boast- 
ful fellow  in  camp  named  Jason  Grimsby.  No  one 
knew  whether  he  would  fight,  but  from  his  tell  he  could 
lick  his  weight  in  wild  cats  and  then  some. 

Some  of  the  woodsmen  had  families  in  near  about 
shacks  and  there  were  several  boys  of  about  ray  age. 
We  made  up  our  minds  that  Jason  was  a  coward.  Our 
plan  to  try  him  out  was  to  waylay  him  at  night  and 
while  not  hurting  him,  we  were  to  leap  on  him  and  tou- 


50 


TUE  IROX  HUNTER 


sic  him  about  pretty  lively.  Good  idea,  but  it  didn't 
work,  and  to  tliis  day  we  have  no  correct  measure  of 
Jason  althougb  lie  pot  one  of  me. 

I  was  a  sort  of  leadj-r.  Perhaps  I  was  the  biggest 
Im\v.  Anyhow  Jason  came  beating  it  along  a  trail 
swinging  a  candle  lantern  and  whistling.  I  made  a 
jump  for  him.  There  were  five  of  us  boys,  two  on  one 
side  of  the  trail  and  three  on  the  other. 

All  I  know  is  that  every  one  of  them  ran  away  and 
Jason  mopped  iip  the  earth  with  rhe.  The  lantern  went 
out  at  once  and  it  took  Jason  some  time  in  the  dark  to 
tell  when  he  had  pounded  me  enough.  I  tried  to  accuse 
him  of  attacking  me,  but  while  my  attitude  confused 
him  a  little,  it  did  no  good.  From  that  time  to  this 
I  have  depended  more  upon  myself  than  others  and  have 
more  carefully  considered  undertakings. 

1  went  back  to  Indiana  with  quite  a  sum  of  money 
saved  up,  amounting  to  near  one  hundred  dollars.  I 
had  walked  most  of  the  way  to  Afichigan,  and  I  earned 
good  wages  in  savings  by  walking  the  most  of  the  way 
back,  over  two  hundred  miles. 

At  thirteen  I  was  in  the  LaFayette  high  school  de- 
spite the  fact  that  my  runa»vay  trips  had  broken  into  my 
schooling.  I  cannot  renjcmber  that  I  was  more  than  an 
ordinary  studj-nt. 

When  I  was  fourteen  I  was  admitted  to  Purdue  Fni- 
vorsity  at  its  opening.  There  was  not  much  organiza- 
tion or  grading  or  I  surely  could  not  have  been  ad- 
mitted. The  institution  had  l)een  endowed  by  John 
Purdue  under  certain  condititms,  one  of  which  was,  I 
believe,  that  it  must  be  open  for  students  by  a  certain 
time.  In  order  to  save  itself  the  univer^ity  was  opened 
hurriedly  and  perhaps  without  much  previous  prepara- 
tion.    I  spent  three  years  at  Purdue.     They  were  years 


WILD  BOYHOOD  DREAMS 


51 


of  mingled  happiness  and  bitterness.  I  seemed  to  get 
along  with  my  work  all  right  but,  struggle  as  1  did,  1 
never  seemed  to  have  enotigh  clothing  to  prevent  richer 
bovs  from  making  fun  of  me.  Shortridge  was  presi- 
dent, and  before  I  left  he  was  succeeded  by  White,  a 
strong  man.  The  university  was  coeducational  from 
the  beginning  and  it  grew  rapidly. 

The  boy  that  I  most  disliked  in  school  was  Jim  Reidy, 
son  of  a  banker  and  rich.  He  was  bigger  and  older 
than  T,  (|uite  a  Hashy  fellow,  whose  sole  accomplishment 
was  to  write  a  good  hand.  That  fellow  goaded  me  to 
des{)eratiou.  He  would  call  attention  in  a  loud  voice 
to  the  fact  that  I  wore  no  undergarments  and  often  no 
socks,  and  that  my  shoes  were  cowhide. 

He  was  a  handsome  young  animal,  and  I  couldn't  lick 
him  as  I  found  out.  Secretly  I  half  admired  him,  al- 
together envied  him  and  often  came  near  to  a  deter- 
mination to  murder  him.  Reidy  married  a  charming 
co-ed  and  became  a  partner  in  his  father's  banking  busi- 
ness. They  expanded  into  a  string  of  banks.  A  panic 
struck  them;  there  were  irregularities  and  Jim  was 
sent  to  the  iK>nitentiarv.  I  did  not  learn  of  this  for  a 
long  time.  I  was  governor  of  Michigan  when  I  did  find 
it  out  and  I  was  not  only  sorry  for  Reidy  but  at  once 
endeavored  to  do  what  I  could  for  him. 

One  of  my  l)est  friends  at  Purdue  was  Orth  Stein, 
son  of  Judge  Stein,  a  prominent  lawyer  and  worthy 
citizen  of  LaFayette.  Orth  was  tall,  antemic  and  some- 
what etfeminate.  He  was  such  a  good  boy  that  mothers 
commonly  pointed  him  out  to  their  sons  as  a  model. 
And  he  had  a  good,  doubh^barreled  shotgun  that  he 
would  loan.  That  endeared  him  to  me  more  than  any- 
thing else,  I  think.  You  cannot  always  tell  alnmt  a 
good  boy.     Before  they  hung  Orth  he  murdered  several 


52 


TFIE  IRON  IirXTEK 


people,  iiicludiiif^  a  wonmn.     It  was  the  whiskey  and 
priistitutioii  route. 

Ilarvi'y  W.  Wiley,  foremost  Anieri<*an  food  expert, 
was  then  professor  of  eliemistry  at  Purdue.  lie  also 
drilled  the  eolleire  cadets  and  was  a  pitcher  in  the  base- 
hall  team.  It  was  j)ermitted  at  this  time  to  ^ive  the 
hall  a  kind  of  underhand  throw.  Dr.  Wiley's  fame  was 
made  one  day  when  he  kiKH-ked  a  eipir  down  the  throat 
of  Johnny  Ifarper.  the  eateher.  Baseball  nowadays 
with  an  unnnisked,  unprotected  catcher  b<'liind  the  hat 
with  a  cigar  in  his  mouth  would  be  the  quintessence  of 
comedy. 

There  was  hazing  of  a  rough  kind,  such  as  putting  a 
freshman  on  a  straw  stack  in  the  night  and  setting  it 
on  fire  so  that  he  had  to  jump  through  the  tlames.  An- 
other st\int  was  to  make  the  caiididate  walk  a  plank 
blindfolded  into  a  deep  hole  in  the  Wabash.  Some- 
times we  tied  his  hands  behind  his  back.  The  victim 
was  always  rescued  but  often  he  was  first  nearly 
drowned,  lioys  were  not  much  good  who  did  not  go  in 
for  these  things  and  it  is  a  fact  that  the  roughest  and 
wildest  boys  have  done  the  most  in  life. 

They  were  always  fair  and  sipnire,  were  not  bullies 
and  adhered  to  certain  unwritten  laws  of  young  buck 
chivalry.  Jndiana  was  full  of  such  youths,  and  1  Iiojk? 
the  country  is  still  developing  them.  All  of  the  college 
pranks  were  played,  and  the  (Ireek  letter  fraternities 
had  quite  a  vogue.  It  was  just  before  I  left  Purdue 
that  President  White  started  his  fight  against  them, 
singling  out  the  Sigma  Chi  as  the  one  to  make  the  test 
upon.  His  defeat  disappointed  him  and  checkered  a 
life  of  great  usefiilness. 

Professor  Ilussey  taught  zoiilogA-.  He  asked  for 
speciinr'ii^.      ft  t'Kik  a  great  effort  on  my  part  to  gather 


WILD  BOYHOOD  DREAMS 


53 


all  the  bones  of  a  horso  skeleton  in  the  river  bottoms 
and  pile  them  in  the  clads  room.  The  specimen  was 
too  new  and  rcjiliy  I  can  smell  it  yet.  Professor  Hussej 
was  fine  usually  but  he  lost  his  temper.  I  confessed  to 
the  act.  He  came  near  to  where  I  sat  and  glowering 
down  upon  me  growled : 

"  Osborn.  do  you  know  how  near  a  fool  you  are  ?  "  I 
replied,  "  Two  feet." 

It  was  not  an  original  retort.  I  am  certain,  but  it 
nearly  ran  me  out  of  college.  Altogether  an  act  upon 
my  part  to  be  condemned,  the  psychology  of  it  was  that 
its  very  boldness  gave  me  greater  confidence  in  myself, 
a  trait  I  was  deficient  in  to  the  extent  that  I  was  bash- 
ful, sensitive  and  terribly  ill  at  ease  in  company. 

One  night  at  the  end  of  my  third  year.  I  attended  a 
commencement  reception  at  President  White's  house. 
Several  of  the  young  men  actually  wore  evening  dress 
suits.  I  had  never  seen  one  before  and  the  mental 
effect  they  had  on  me  was  as  strange  as  it  was  ludicrous. 
All  along  I  had  been  struggling  to  get  far  enough  into 
style  to  wear  an  undershirt,  and  here  were  these  claw 
hammer  coats.  The  case  was  hopeless;  the  odds  were 
too  terrible  to  struggle  against.  Then  and  there  I 
vowed  to  leave  school  for  good,  and  I  did.  I  was  seven- 
teen. 

My  father  no  longer  worked  at  carpentering.  The 
unusual  medical  skill  of  both  my  parents  insured  them 
from  being  in  poverty  very  long.  So  far  on  the  up- 
grade had  they  gone  that  father  was  able  to  buy  a  tract 
of  forty-seven  acres  of  land  about  three  miles  from  La- 
Fayette.  It  was  a  network  of  swampy  pond  holes,  with 
a  planched  growth  of  sassafras,  hazel,  ash,  water  elm 
and  briars  with  numerous  enough  rattlesnakes,  black 
snakes  and  blue  racers.     'Sly  brothers  and  I  were  given 


54 


THE  IRON  HUNTER 


the  job  of  clearinpr  that  land.  No  work  was  better  for 
us.  We  straightorifd  a  sluggish  oreok  and  laid  tile  in 
every  direction.  The  timber  was  cut  into  eordwood  and 
rails,  with  now  and  then  a  linn  or  an  oak  sawlog. 

Working  at  many  things  during  my  hungry  youth  I 
had  Icariifd  to  set  type,  put  a  job  (m  a  press,  make 
rollers,  pull  a  Washington  and  turn  the  old  man-power 
eylinders.  Also  I  had  crudely  written  some  for  the 
F)apers  and  really  began  to  gather  news  items  at  ten. 
But  I  had  not  formed  a  definite  desire  to  do  newspaper 
work.  Only  it  was  true  of  me  that  accidentally  or 
otherwise  I  had  done  more  work  around  newspaper 
outfits,  and  had  learned  more  about  them  than  about 
anything  else. 

An  event  occurred  before  I  was  eighteen  that  caused 
me  to  leave  Indiana  in  deep  disgust,  mostly  with  my- 
self.    Quite  a   notorious  bully  named    Ed   Rawles,  a 
young  fighting  widower,  was  the  high  co(rkalorum,  as 
he  claimed,  of  the  Hebron  district,  about  seven  miles 
from  LaFayette.     If  he  didn't  like  a  young  fellow  he 
would  scare  him  away  by  blufl^ng  or  licking  him.     He 
tabooed  me  and  sent  me  word  not  to  come  again  into  his 
neighborhood  under  penalty  of  a  thrashing  at  his  hands. 
My  older  brother  told  me  not  to  go.     He  said  Rawles 
would  maul  me  all  to  pieces,  and  I  really  thought  he 
would  myself,  but  I  wasn't  going  to  be  scared  out.     The 
very  next  time  there  were  any  doings  at  Hebron  church, 
I  went.     Rawles  was  in  a  seat  in  front  of  me.     It  was 
in  the  evening.     He  leanc;  over  and  called  me  a  vile 
name  in  a  loud  whisper  and  said  he  was  going  to  "  lick 
the  stufl^n'  out  of  me"  after  church.     I  didn't  wait 
until  after  church,  but  waded  into  :Mr.   Rawles  then 
and  there.     I  struck  him  in  the  face,  and  before  he 


WILD  BOYHOOD  DREAMS 


55 


could  recover  from  the  surprise  and  the  blow,  I  climbed 
over  the  seat  and  gatiied  liiiu.  We  had  a  fine  fight. 
He  would  jam  in  between  the  seats.  I  was  thinner  and 
had  him  at  a  disadvantage.  Naturally  the  church  was 
in  an  uproar  in  a  moment.  Women  and  girls  screamed, 
but  there  weren't  many  fainting  Hoosier  women  those 
days. 

Men  got  to  us  and  pulled  us  out  into  the  aisle.  Then 
it  seemed  to  me  the  tide  of  battle  turned.  I  had  been 
having  all  the  best  of  the  mix-up  among  the  seats.  Now 
a  half  dozen  were  holding  me  and  it  seemed  to  me  that 
no  one  was  holding  Rawles.  He  pounded  away  at  me 
and  my  arras  were  pinioned.  When  they  thought  I  had 
enough,  for  I  was  blind  and  delirious  with  fighting  rage, 
they  faced  me  about  and  threw  me  out  of  church. 

I  ran  as  fast  as  I  could  go  to  **  Doc  "  Coleman's,  the 
nearest  farmer  I  knew,  and  tried  to  borrow  his  shotgun 
in  order  to  go  back  and  get  even.  Of  course  he  refused 
it. 

Next  day  I  was  arrested.  It  seems  that  I  was  not 
only  guilty  of  assault  and  battery  but  of  church  dese- 
cration, a  much  worse  crime.  Colonel  Dick  DeHart,  a 
famous  soldier  and  criminal  lawyer  and  afterwards  an 
able  judge  for  years,  defended  me  without  charge  and 
I  was  acquitted. 

But  from  that  moment  I  was  a  marked  youth.  Par- 
ents forbade  their  daughters  to  speak  to  me  and  ordered 
their  sons  to  shun  me.  I  was  the  most  depraved  youth 
in  Indiana  according  to  their  ideas.  It  did  not  matter 
what  reputation  Rawles  had,  nor  did  it  count  that  I 
ended  his  days  as  a  bully.  I  had  but  one  destiny  and 
that  included  both  penitentiary  and  hanging.  In  fact, 
80  persistent  was  the  opinion  that  thirty-five  years  later. 


I 


5«5 


THE  IKON  HUNTER 


wlM'n  I  l.ml  p.no  t.,  Indiana  as  a  piest  of  that  State  as 
<M.v..rn..r  of  Mi.-I.igan.  a  fine  „I,1  gentleman  named 
iMirif/,  «.f  (.(.riniin  cxtniction,  exclaimed: 

"Isf  dis  der  real  Chase  Osborn  ^  Vat,  ain't  you 
iMin^'  yet  ? "  '  j 

Tl„.  girls  and  Ims  did  not  all  taboo  me  by  any  means 
but  my  s,K.i„I  relations  were,  to  say  the  least,  clandes- 
tine, so  I  packed  my  '*  turkey." 

While  on  the  farm  engaged  in  the  work  of  clearing 
J   had  tune  to  read,  to  go  to  the  country  parties  and 
srH^iling  seh.KjIs  and  debates,  in  all  of  which  I  seemed  to 
take  an  average  part.     Opi)orf.initiea  came  to  go  har- 
vesting with  iK-tter  wages  and  to  follow  the  threshing 
uiad.me  that  did  the  work  for  manv  farmers.     There 
was    niu<-h    interchange    and    exchange   of    work      At 
threshing  and    harvest   time   women,   old   and  young, 
showe,    ,lu.ir  lK>st  at  cooki.ig  and  housekeeping.     The 
tables  bent  with  wholesome,  well-cwked  food  —  turkey 
chicken    iHef,  mutton,  pork,  potatoes  and  many  other 
vegetables,  big  bowls  of  steaming  gravy,  pies  and  cakes 
ot  many  varieties,  preserves,  spiced  fruit  and  pickles. 
J  hey  were  wonderful  feediii,'  'ays  and  for  feasting  even 
exceeded  Christmas  time. 

I  learned  when  very  young  to  cut  bands  and  several 
tunes  nearly  cut  the  feeder's  hands,  but  luckily  did  not. 
As  I  grew  older  I  learned  to  rig  up  the  ho^se  power, 
pitch  from  the  staek  onto  the  feeding  table  and  also  t.. 
toed  the  machine,  which  required  the  greatest  degree  of 
exfK'rtness  of  all. 

I^inding  in  the  wheat  field  behind  a  reaper  — they 
w<«re  a  n.'w  thing  and  there  wore  only  a  few  in  our  parf 
'•nulling,  raking  and  binding  also.  Excellence  marked 
women  an.l  men.  To  be  a  good  cook  and  housekeeper 
=".d  (vononncnl  nmde  a  womat,  f■.^mm^.,  and  the  young 


WILD  HOVIIOOI)  DKKAMS 


67 


woman  thiia  distin^ruisluMl  inarricd  «'arlv.  Yonnp  mon 
wore  told  to  observe  a  ;,'irl  peelinir  apples  or  potat.M's. 
If  she  pared  them  fhiekl.v  and  wastefiillv  avoid  her  as 
a  wasteful  wench,  I)ut  if  tiie  parities  were  thin  it  was 
evidence  of  care  and  thrift. 

Men  who  excelled  in  chopping',  eradliiip,  bindinp.  or 
in  anything  wen  known  all  over  wide  cominunities  and 
were  pointed  out.     It  all  made  for  wholesome  ideals. 

There  were  a  p>od  munv  clumces  to  dicker  and  use 
one's  wits.  One  winter  evening;  walking  along  a  frozen 
dirt  roau  that  ran  at  right  angles  to  the  pike  that  had 
been  rec( .  tly  built  to  the  Tippc-anw  battleground, 
where  General  Harrison  heat  the  Prophet,  T  saw  a  queer- 
looking  animal  in  a  bleak  field  of  dry  an<l  rustling  corn 
stalks.  It  was  yellow  and  had  long,  matted  hair,  and 
at  the  distance  it  was,  might  have  Ihmii  a  big  goat  or 
almost  anything.  When  I  came  up  to  where  the  man 
of  the  place  was  feeding  the  hogs  I  asked  him  w'lat  it 
was.  He  said  it  was  a  mule  and  as  he  didn't  like  mules 
nohow  he  would  sell  it.  To  my  consternation  he  made 
me  a  price  of  two  dr.llars  on  it.  I  was  not  ^harp  at 
trading  but  I  asked  him  what  was  the  matter  with  the 
mule. 

"Boy,"  he  said,  "so  far's  health  is  consarnetl  that 
critter  be  a  well  one  an'  kin  eat  glass." 

Then  I  asked  the  age!  "  Dummed  if  I  know,"  he 
replied,  "  and  it  don't  make  no  difference  nohow  kase 
nolx)dy  never  seen  a  dead  mule." 

I  bought  the  mule. 

When  I  entered  the  field  to  Inspect  my  purchase  the 
thing  came  at  mo  with  mouth  open,  teeth  <;leaini ng  and 
issuing  fiery  snorts  altogether  like  a  ferocious  fiend. 
I  have  been  in  close  quarters  since  with  grizzly  bears 
and  lions,  but  nothing  has  ever  come  so  near  to  getting 


<l 


.18 


TIIK  IROX  HUNTER 


mo.  to  the  h<'«t  of  my  Mu-f,  as  that  mnlc  did.  I  barely 
made  the  rail  fenw  juid  f.H  (,vor  it  as  though  throwii 
hy  n  «'vpIoih'. 

Tlie  formrr  owner  of  the  h-ast  was  .lonhlod  up  with 
ratifous  lauprhtrr.  I  Mt  vhvup  a.id  some  mad.  When 
I  a.skod  him  what  ho  meant  hy  uuh.adiiij;  that  thing  on 
mr  ho  ofTored  to  huy  tlio  mtih-  hack  for  n  dolhir. 

I  refused.  The  thought  came  to  me  that  I  might  also 
«HI  him  "as  he  ran,"  as  I  had  iKiught  him,  and  there 
seemed  to  Im!  nothing  wrong  al)out  trying. 

In  fact.  I  did  not  think  of  ethics  at  all.  The  only 
thing  that  I  really  wondered  about  was  whether  it  was 
a  mule  or  something  else.  I  had  heard  repeatedly  that 
there  are  nine  kinds  of  meat  in  a  turtle  and  I  'really 
thought  the  mule  might  have  nine  kinds  of  animals  in 
ill  in.  He  roared  like  a  lion,  opened  his  jaws  like  an 
alligator,  showed  his  teeth  like  a  dragon  and  charged 
with  lowered  head  like  a  hilly  goat. 

I  went  on  to  town.  Neit  day  I  looked  up  a  Jew 
jmik  dealer.  We  knew  him  as  the  ragman.  I  told 
him  I  had  a  mule  for  sale  for  twentv-five  dollars  It 
seemed  to  me  that  his  eyes  gleamed"  at  the  chance  he 
foresaw  to  beat  me.  My  eyes  could  have  gleamed  also 
hecause  I  made  up  my  mind  to  sell  that  mule  for  two 
dollars  if  I  couldn't  get  more. 

He  started  for  the  country  with  me  at  once.  Wlien 
we  reached  the  field  of  cornstalks  the  mule  was  browsing 
al)out  a  hundred  yards  from  the  fence.  It  was  a  frosty 
morning.  The  sun  glinted  from  the  rufous  side  of  the 
boast.  He  didn't  look  badly  at  all.  Wliat  I  fc-ared  was 
that  the  Jew  would  try  to  inspect  him.  To  my  sur- 
prise and  deep  relief  he  did  not.  We  had  l)oen  hauled 
out  by  a  poor,  old,  gray  rack  o'  bones  that  was  ready 
to  cave  in  at  any  time,  and  the  junk  dealer  knew  it 


WILD  BOYHOOD  DREAMS 


50 


Evidently  he  was  bound  to  buy  that  mule  without  vx- 
fiting  nic  as  to  his  intontions.  His  first  offer  was  fivo 
dollars.  I  was  anxious  to  take  it  but  the  lap  gods  held 
me  off.  W<'  dickered  rapidly  for  a  short  time  and  I 
sold  the  wild  red  mule  to  him  for  eleven  dollars. 

He  went  to  the  farmer  who  owned  the  field  and  asked 
if  the  mule  l)elonped  to  me  to  sell,  and  that  farmer 
looked  as  innocent  as  a  [Miiscinous  toad  stool  to  a  mush- 
nxini  hunter  as  he  told  him  if  did. 

Then  the  Jew  paid  me  eleven  dollars  out  of  a  verv 
^'reasy  wallet.  The  farmer  and  I  stoo«l  where  we  could 
watch  the  new  owner  takj*  over  his  property.  We  had 
a  roaring  laugh  and  then  a  fright,  Infause  it  looked  at 
one  time  as  though  the  mule  would  catch  the  Jew  and 
eat  him. 

The  ragman  was  more  p«'rsistcnt  than  I  bad  been. 
Tie  detected  power  in  that  mule  which  if  harnessed 
would  pull  his  junk  wagon  many  a  mile.  But  no  use. 
He  finally  came  to  me  and  demanded  his  money  back. 

I  followed  the  example  of  the  farmer  and  offered  him 
six  dollars.  At  the  same  time  I  suggested  to  him  that 
he  might  get  help  and  catch  the  beast,  or  failing  that  he 
could  sell  him  "  as  he  rail."  That  ended  the  mule  trade 
so  far  as  I  was  concerned. 


< 


II 


CHAPTER  VI 

SWFPT    IXTO    TIIK    HUMAN    MAELSTROM    OF   CHICAOO 

ISTAKTED  to  walk  to  (^hicapo,  nhug  tlio  Laki; 
Eric   and    Wcstorn    railroad   tracks.     Tlic   exact 
reason   I   started  to  walk  was  because  tlie  train 
erew  pulh-d  nie  out  of  a  box  car  and  i>ad.-  nie  do  so. 
Tramps  were  overywhore  and  had  become  such  a  men- 
ace as  t(.  forfeit  all  sympathy.     1  had  sp..iit  nearlv  all 
my  money  on  dofhin^'  and  did  not  have  anv  to  span-  for 
railn)ad  fare.      At  that  time  the  fares  were  s(.  hidi  that 
a  tolerable  walker  conld  make  good  wages  afoot.     It 
was  autumn.      The  golden  pawpaws  burst  as  thev  fell 
to   the   ground.     Wrinkled    p<^rsimmoii8   hiuig  on    the 
trees.     Pheasants  were  in  full  plumage  and  the  (juail 
and  prairie  chickens  were  strong  of  flight.     Wild  ducks 
and  geese  were  winging  south.     Apples  and  turnips  and 
eabbages  were  buried  in  pyramidal  heaps  in  the  field. 
Corn   husking  was  occupying  the  men  folks,  and  tlu> 
women  were  about  through  "  putting  up  "  canned  stuff 
fnr  the  winter. 

I  was  leaving  all  these  Hoosier  things  forever.  But 
r  did  not  know  it  then;  I  did  not  even  recognize  my 
own  f('elings  as  they  surged  within  me.  Only  one  thing 
w:is  ciciir.  T  was  going  to  Chicago  where  so  many 
H->.wi,.r  liuls  had  gone  I«.fore  and  have  gone  since,  only 
to  he  <wallowed  remorselesslv. 

At  that  age  of  limited  experience  T  did  not  know  the 

60 


THE  JIUMAX  MAELSTROM 


61 


ffrcat  V  ,i.  s  devour  Ixjys  and  pirls  as  a  more  avid  Miiio- 
tinir  thill:  tlic  Cretan  monster  in  the  Labyrinth  that 
Diiedahis  l.nilt,  that  ate  the  seven  maidens"  and  seven 
youths  sent  by  Athens  as  an  annual  tribute,  until  The- 
seus killed  the  demon. 

What  a  lot  of  Theseuses  we  need  nowadays  to  hunt 
down  the  modern  monster  Minotau^s. 

One  ni«:ht  I  slept  a  while  in  a  straw  stack.  First  I 
du/;  a  hole  in  the  stark  and  crawling  in  I  pulled  the 
straw  in  after  me.  Just  as  I  got  comfortably  warm 
and  asleep,  the  farmer's  dog  treed  me,  and  I  was  driven 
forth.  Xext  I  crawled  into  a  corn  shock  where  I  v/as 
very  cold  and  did  not  sleep  much.  It  took  me  t.ree 
days  and  nights  to  get  to  Chicago,  only  one  hundred 
and  thirty  miles  from  LaFayette.  Part  of  the  way  I 
managed  to  cover  in  freight  trains,  but  I  walked  more 
than  half  the  distance. 

There  was  a  railroad  station  at  the  foot  of  Lake 
Street,  I  think,  with  dismal,  unpainted.  wooden  sheds 
and  many  ro«.keries  about.  Across  from  the  station 
were  salcKin  dives,  cheap  hotels,  restaurants  and  barl)er 
shops.  My  first  impressions  of  Chicago  were  verv  dis- 
appointing and  I  fear  they  have  not  improved  mucli  vet. 
I  had  just  fifteen  cents.  Aliout  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning  I  arrived. 

Entering  a  barber  shop  T  asked  if  I  might  wash. 
The  boss  said  I  could.  When  I  thanked  him  as  T 
started  to  leave  the  shop  the  barl«>r  stopped  me  and 
said  I  owed  him  fifteen  cents.  It  was  every  cent  I  had 
in  the  world  but  I  paid  and  then  plunged  into  the 
human  jungle. 

I  have  seen  the  highways  and  byways  of  the  earth 
since  and  have  confronted  many  exacting  conditions,  but 
I  never  again  have  had  such  heart  sinkings  as  I  had 


62 


THE  IRON  HUXTER 


that  morning.     To  have  no  breakfast  was  not  such  a 
serious  thinpf  for  a  strong  l)ov. 

Alone  in  the  middle  of  the  Sahara  T  have  felt  nearer 
to  friends  and  love  and  sympathy  than  I  felt  after  tb*- 
barber  took  my  last  cent.  Some  one  to  turn  to  was 
wnat  1  hungered  for  more  than  food. 

Where  to  g«  or  which  way  to  turn  seemed  to  make 
no  difference  Rivers  ..f  people  swept  by  in  .-easeless, 
rapid  flow.  There  was  the  sullen  roar  of  the  eitv  like 
a  A  lagara  of  fierce  sorrow.  It  seemed  to  me  that  all 
tUe  taces  i  saw  were  hungrv  and  hard 

I  had  heard  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  rather  a  new  thing 
then,  and  made  my  way  to  its  rooms.  But  thev  stared 
at  me  and  spoke  in  a  manner  so  short  and  feelingless 
that  I  almost  fled  from  the  r(x»m. 

It  seemed  as  though  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  was  run  for  boys 

who  had  a  honu.   a„.i  not  for  the  strange  and  homeless. 

Of  course  I  felt  hard,  unjustly  so  no  doubt,  and  I  was 

errihed  by  my  on-n  thoughts,  which  were  that  I  hoped 

the  place  would  burn  down. 

What  a  trivial  cause  to  start  such  a  low  trend '  I 
soon  tired  and  wandered  about  cold  and  rather  despair- 
ingly,    feoon  again  I  was  at  tin-  depot. 

A  man  with  a  big  valise  hailed  me  and  .gave  me  the 
bag  to  carry.  It  was  big  and  heavy  but  l'  was  strong. 
^Vhen  I  got  .t  to  the  dollar-a-day  hotel  he  sought  he 
rave  me  five  cents.  T  c-ould  have  blessed  him,  but  I 
only  hurried  away  and  found  a  place  where  [  got  a  biir 
b..wl  of  soup  and  bread  for  the  money  I  had  earned. 

J  haunted  the  railroad  station  and  for  several  dayo 
carried  .,uite  a  number  of  bags  and  parcels  and  earned 
twenty-hve  cents  a  day. 

At  nigl.t  r  slept  i,;  the  depot  and  was  seldom  mo- 
lested.     To  mc  it  wns  a  cheerful  r:K>n.  at  night,  as  the 


THE  HUMAN  MAELSTROM  68 

coal  stove  with  open  door  east  a  bituminous  glow  which 
made  fine  shadows  that  1  was  too  big  now  to  be  afraid 
of.  Sometimes  I  had  bad  dreams,  and  once  I  awoke  in 
a  cold  sweat  because  1  was  chased  bv  "  Nigger  Henrv  " 
who  lived  in  a  cave  up  Tenth  Strt^t  "  holler  "  at  U- 
Fayette,  hissed  on  by  "  Crazy  Cyrus,"  who  lived  out 
by  Keynold  s  pasture,  and  wrung  his  hands  and  gawped 
bloodJe-doodle." 

Between  errands  fr.r  passengers  I  hunted  for  a  job. 
hinally  a  cheap  son  of  hotel  boarding  house  on  Wa- 
bash Avenue  near  Polk  Street  took  me  as  assistant 
porter.  The  work  was  to  do  anything  I  was  told  to  do 
by  anybody.  When  nothing  more  definite  was  in  sight 
I  was  to  scrub  the  stairs  and  flvwr  and  wash  the  win- 
dows. I  got  my  board  and  was  promised  three  dollars  a 
week.  My  shoes  were  wearing  out  and  I  had  no  over- 
coat. 

Trips  downtown  afoot  througfj  the  snow  and  slush 
breasting  the  lake  winds  not  warmly  clad  are  the  fea- 
tures I  best  remember  of  that  experience. 

I  could  not  get  my  pay  so  I  began  to  hunt  for  an- 
other job.  A  fifteen-cent  restaurant  on  Clark  Street 
offered  me  two  dollars  a  week  and  board  as  a  potato 
peeler.  I  had  to  work  in  a  grimy  basement  but  I  liked 
It  because  when  the  first  week  was  up  I  got  mv  pav  and 
T  could  see  new  shoes  ahead.  The  cook  made  soup  of 
the  potato  peelings  which  was  strained  and  sent  up  on 
a  dumb  waiter. 

I  worked  here  for  some  weeks.  There  were  many 
swift  changes  in  the  staff  and  soon  I  found  mvself  sec- 
ond cofjk.  Then  I  went  up^airs  as  a  waiter  at  two 
dollars  and  fifty  cent!^  a  week,  because  the  business  could 
not  afford  a  second  cook 

It  wi's  wliilc  waitiri;.'  on  the  table  that  T  met  a  Trih 


11:1 


^•»  TIIK  J  HON  UrXTKR 

tnir  reporter,  who  oamo  to  eat  n\ir  bf>st  fifteen-cent  meals 
in  the  cit.v.  W.'  became  friends  and  he  fotmd  work  for 
me  with  his  paper. 

The  Times  was  the  bijr  paper  of  ("hieapo,  but  the 
Tribunr  had  started  npnn  the  p-owth  that  landed  it  at 
the  top.  I  reallv  niii  errands  at  first  for  the  city  editor. 
Sometimes  he  pivc  nie  unimportant  assijiuments. 
(Jradtially  he  pave  me  mor<>  to  do  and  I  learned  a  preat 
deal.  Of  course.  1  felt  ;if  home  around  a  newspaper 
on  account  of  the  experience-  I  had  had  at  LaFavette. 

Hard  times  prew  hiirdcr.  It  was  the  early  summer 
of  1S7!>  that  the  Trihiinr  cut  thinps  to  the  marrow. 
I  was  one  of  the  first  to  jro  because  1  could  l)e  easiest 
spared.  For  my  work  on  the  'Inhunc  I  had  l>een  paid 
five  dollars  a  week,  perhaps  really  more  than  I  earned. 
I  lived  on  less  thai,  two  dollars  a  week  for  food  and 
saved  enough  to  improve  the  qnality  and  character  of 
my  clothing. 

The  streets  were  filled  with  workless  men  and  to  get 
a  job  of  any  kind  seemed  hojwless.  So  I  made  up  my 
mind  to  go  to  :Milwaukee  and  farther  north  if  neces- 
sary. The  trains  were  closely  watched  and  T  suppose 
I  was  not  a  clever  hobo,  so  I  walked  most  of  the  eightv- 
five  miles  to  Milwaukee,  Naturally  I  saw  and  fell  in 
with  many  tramps  and  learned  their  ways.  It  was  a 
shock  to  my  youthful  ideals  and  sympathy  to  learn  that 
most  of  these  gentry  would  not  work  if  they  could  get 
out  of  it.  It  wa-:  always  a  satisfactory  day  when  they 
had  bummed  their  grub  without  turning  over  a  hand. 
Few  of  them  were  inclined  to  be  criminals. 

In  fact,  they  were  drifting  derelicts  on  their  way  to 
the  hopeless,  helpless,  sendal  .sea  of  Sargasso  which^  en- 
gulf, the  iriort  human  .l.'bris  just  as  the  flotsam  of  the 
ocean  is  caught.      Nf.r  did  I  then  recogni/.(.  the  type  at 


THE  HUAIAX  MAKLSTUOM 


G5 


.ill  except  as  .something  n..t  to  tie  np  to  permanently. 
It  was  only  in  after  years  that  I  came  to  realize  that 
those  deficients  are  the  certain  product  of  a  social  usurv 
'>t  yesterday  and  continued  to-day  with  slij,'ht  ahate- 
inent.     Theirs  is  a  disease  of  the  overworked  world. 

Milwaukee  offered  nothiuj?.  It  was  winter.  I 
.valked  on  north  tiirough  Fond  du  Lac,  Oshkosh  and 
^Jreen  Bay. 

A  farmer  livirifr  near  Fond  du  Lac,  to  whom  I  ap- 
plied for  work,  said  he  would  jrive  me  a  job  if  I  could 
hold  it  down.  It  consisted  of  k'ing  a  valet  to  a  man- 
eating  stallion.  I  fought  that  horse  for  a  week  with 
everything  that  I  could  use  and  not  kill  him,  and  I 
would  have  finished  the  vicious  brute  if  I  had  dared. 
After  having  my  clothing  partially  bitten  off  me  and 
suffering  from  not  a  few  nips  that  reached  my  flesh,  I 
gave  up  the  job.  It  is  really  the  only  time  in  my  life 
that  I  have  admitted  defeat,  and  I  have  longed  for  an- 
other chance  at  that  horse  but  in  vain. 

On  toward  the  pole  star  I  plugged  away.  At  Osh- 
kosh I  was  seized  with  neuralgia  from  exposure  and 
underfeeding.  It  made  me  jump,  I  tell  you.  Some 
good  people  took  me  to  their  home  for  a  few  days  and 
then  I  went  on. 

The  Chicago  A:  Xorthwestern  was  building  its  Me- 
nominee Range  ext.'iision.  I  worked  in  the  construc- 
tion gang  near  where  Ilermansville  was  afterwards 
located.  The  force  was  reduced  and  I  found  myself 
among  those  laid  off  at  the  northernmost  limits  of  set- 
tlement. No  use  to  go  farther,  so  I  began  to  retrace 
myself. 

There  were  tracks  of  bear,  lynx  and  wolves,  and  the 
latter  sounded  their  coursing  tongues  every  night. 
Every  hunting  dream  that  had  tenanted  my  mind  as  a 


06 


THE  IRON  HUNTER 


hoy  was  rovivod  iia  T  saw  deep-worn  deer  run-ways  after 
nir-way. 

Stran/re  how  the  red  deer  followed  the  same  paths  in 
their  food  mi^'ratioiis  for  centuries.  Indians  built  deer 
fences  and  killed  thotisands  alonj;  them,  only  taking  skin 
and  saddle.  Civilization  was  even  more  ruthless.  It 
is  pathetic  to  observe  the  deer  habits  now.  Thev  try 
to  migrate  as  in  the  olden  days,  but  so  restricted  and 
exit  up  is  the  zone  of  wild  life  that  it  is  more  like  a 
city  Z(X).     Game  sanctuaries  must  be  established. 

Thinirs  raced  throtigh  my  mind  in  a  disconnected  way. 
I  wondered  where  I  might  get  a  start  in  life  and  how; 
a  real  one.  Then  back  to  the  scenes  and  adventures  of 
early  boyhood  my  mind  would  travel.  I  contrasted  the 
big  forests  with  the  Wea  Plains,  the  Wabash  bottoms 
and  the  borderland  of  the  Grand  Prairie  in  Indiana. 

I  sat  on  a  log  to  rest  and  heard  the  drumming  of  a 
pheasant.     They  call  it  a  partridge  north;  the  ruffed 
grouse.     It  made  me  think  somehow  or  other  of  a  June 
afternoon  long  ago  when  a  mower  had  cut  three  legs  off 
my  double-nosed  i)ointer  pup  as  he  lav  in  the  grass, 
panting  from  his  intense  work.     I  had  been  training 
him  on  young  prairie  chickens  that  kind  of  just  fluffed 
up  out  of  the  grass  when  I  flushed  them.     I  was  a  big 
l>oy,  but  I  cried  in  secret  when  I  shot  the  beautiful 
pointer  to  put  him  out  of  misery.     He  had  l)een  pre- 
sented to  me  by  a  man  whose  two  children  I  had  pulled 
out  of  a  burning  slu'd.     When  I  was  asked  what  I  would 
like  to  have  as  a  reward,  poor  as  I  was,  I  said  a  bird 
dog.     One  morning  while  going  out  to  train  the  puppy 
I  saw  a  black  cat,  and  shot  it  as  it  was  stealing  up  on 
some  young  quail.     Nigger  Bill   had  told  me  it  was 
oert«in  bad  luck  to  kill  a  cat  and  worst  of  all  to  kill  a 
black  one,  but  I  didn't  believe  him,  because  after  many 


TIIK  HUMAN  MAELSTKOM 


67 


struggles  in  which  I  was  considerably  scratched  up  I 
had  cut  a  cat's  head  off  and  no  bad  luck  seemed  to  fol- 
low. 

Now  I  believed  it  and  as  I  sat  on  the  log,  with  head 
full  of  disconne<*tcd  thoughts,  remembored  that  Nigger 
Bill  had  said  that  to  kill  a  cat  meant  bad  luck  for  seven 
years.  1  had  two  more  years  to  go.  Then  I  fell  to 
thinking  of  signs  and  made  up  my  mind  to  be  very  care- 
ful f..r,  I  argued,  even  if  therc'^s  nothing  to  them,  it 
won't  hurt  to  avoid  them. 

And  that  is  the  reason  why  signs  are  bad.  Those 
who  are  unobserviug  and  careless  are  always  the  ones 
who  trespass  most  in  the  field  of  superstition  with  the 
consequences  only  those  things  that  would  naturally 
happen  such  {wrsons. 

My  thoughts  covered  a  wide  horizon  as  I  tramped 
along  day  by  day.  f'inally  after  the  usual  experiences 
of  hunger  and  weariness  I  again  reached  Milwaukee. 
I  had  not  been  depressed  a  moment  since  the  morning 
in  Chicago  when  I  was  penniless  and  friendless  in  that 
awful  mire  of  men.  The  limitless  forests  of  the  north 
that  spread  out  under  the  boreal  aurora  with  their  bear, 
wolves  and  wild  cat  things  were  kinder  than  the  big 
hungry  city  with  its  human  wolves  that  are  worse. 


CHAPTER  VII 

1    DBIVE   A   COAL    WAGON  —  PILE    LUMBER  —  CAPTURE   A 
MLHUEKEK   AND    DocK    WALLOP    IN    MILWAUKEE 

MV  first  job  ill  MilwauW  was  driving  a  foal 
wagon  for  H.  B.  Pearson.  Ho  was  an  al.l.-r- 
man  and  a  prosperotis  coal  dealer  on  West 
J\ater  Street.  In  my  memory  he  dwells  as  one  of  tlie 
best  men  in  the  world,  just  boeause  he  had  a  kind  word 
and  a  bread-getting  plaee  for  me.  It  was  the  earlv  part 
of  the  spring  of  ISSO.  I  was  twenty  years  old  and  big 
and  strong  enough  to  do  anything. 

Spring  came   with   a   rush   that   soon   put   the  eoal 
wagon  out  of  business,  but  not  before  I  learned  a  good 
deal  about  the  streets  and  lay  of  the  eity.     Right  away 
I  asked  why  none  of  the  streets  crossed  the  river  straight 
and  why  all  of  them  bore  diflferent  names  after  cross- 
ing.    Mr.  Pearson  patiently  told  me  the  reasons  and 
said  that  they  were  the  same  that  kept  Milwaukee  hack, 
and  from  l)eing  a  bigger  place  than  C^hieago.     When' 
the  town  was  first  started  local  rivalries,  that  have  killed 
more  towns  than  any  other  cause,  were  a  conflngrafion 
111   Milwaukee.      Three  towns  separated  by  the   Kim.i- 
Kmnick  and  Milwaukee  rivers  strove  against  one  an- 
other.    Thoy  were  Juneautown.  Walkertown  and  Kil- 
iKiurne  City,  and  so  bitter  were  fh(>y  that  bridges  were 
not  l.nilt  and  there  wer.>  many  fi-lit^  and  much  bad 
mood.      Men  build  cities  .nen  more  fliari  nature.      The 
fact  that  Milwaukee  is  a  citv  at  all  with  the  bad  start 

6f) 


1  DRIVE  A  COAL  WAGON 


00 


it  got  proves  that  it  has  better  natural  advantages  than 
Chicago. 

B.v  the  time  the  coal  wagon  had  to  go  the  season  of 
navigation  had  ojM'ned,  and  lumber  hookers  were  com- 
ing in  with  their  green  carg«x>8.  Mr.  Pearson  helped 
me  to  fivt  H  job  piling  lumber  in  Durr  Ac  Hugee's  lumber 
yard  on  the  south  side.  It  was  hard  work  and  bv  quit- 
ting time  I  was  always  tired,  but  not  so  nmch  so  that 
I  could  not  do  night  work  on  Gregory  Hurson's  Good- 
rich dcK'ks. 

I  got  ninety  cents  a  day  in  the  lumlier  yard  and 
twenty  cents  an  hour  for  doek-wal loping,  plus  "kicks  and 
curses  at  the  latter. 

An  attic  over  Godfrey  &  Crandall'a  job  printing  shop 
on  Michigan  Street  furnished  a  place  to  sleep  on  a  pallet 
on  the  floor.  It  was  always  a  soft  pallet  after  I  got 
through  dock  walloping  at  ten  or  eleven  o'clock.  Some- 
times I  worked  until  midnight  loading  or  unloading 
vessels,  and  the  work  was  quite  certain  to  be  had  every 
night.  *^ 

Real  trouble  soon  brewed  at  the  lumber  yard.  I  was 
the  only  American  on  the  job.  All  the  others  were 
Poles  and  the  foreman  was  Polish.  They  conspired 
against  nie  and  gave  me  the  worst  end  of  it,  or  I  thought 
they  did,  when  it  came  to  unloading  a  schooner.  I 
noticed  that  two  Poles  were  assigned  to  take  awav  from 
one  man  over  the  rail.  I  had  to  do  that  job  alone,  and 
there  were  other  signs  that  I  was  not  welcome  among 
them.  Since  that  time  I  have  been  treated  better  in 
Poland  that  I  was  by  the  Polacks  in  Durr  &  Rugee's 
yard.  Things  were  coming  to  a  pass  where  there  had 
to  be  a  show  down,  and  then  I  was  certain  I  would  have 
to  go.  My  employers,  no  matter  how  fair,  could  not 
keep  me  as  against  all  the  balance  of  the  gang. 


t 


70 


TIIK  IKON  HUNTER 


Thore  wafl  a  furn  of  good  luck,  if  ever  there  is  such  a 
thing,  and  I  think  thfre  is  hec.mse  so  nu.nv  thinp,  hap- 
pen in  a  person's  lifo  that  cannot  be  traced  to  their  canse 
source  within  the  individiial, 

Two.voun^  fellows  from  Louisville  named  BbIht  and 
Oesswein  had  startcfl  an  evening  newspap^-r  called  the 
^^tgnnl.  It  is  noxv  the  MiUvonkpo  Jourml.  with  inanv 
hiatuses  lH.twe,.n.  (Jeorp.  Yen..wine  was  also  one  o{ 
the  unlucky  Kentuckians.  They  pot  into  ,lcht  to  God- 
frey &  rrandall.  the  printers,  in  whose  attic  I  had  mv 
abode,  and  lost  their  strupgling  property  for  printing 

Hampt.in  Leedom,  a  sturdy  man  of  middle  age.  with 
hunchback,  red  visage  ar.d  kind  heart,  kept  the  books 
for  Godfrey  &  Crandall  and  f..r  some  others.  He 
too  often  worked  at  nijrht  and  T  Inrame  acquainted 
with  him  and  he  took  an  interest  in  me  that  I  shall  never 
forget.  It  was  ifr.  Leedom  who  told  me  alniut  the  Sin- 
n«/ and  its  troubles.  I  told  him  about  the  newspaper 
and  printer's  w„rk  I  had  done,  and  he  promised  to  keen 
a  kM)k  out  for  me  for  a  job. 

Before  taking  the  vm\  wagon  I  had  l)een  to  everv 
printer  and  publisher  in  Milwaukee.  I  .-ould  not  hang 
around  long  b<vause  I  had  not  done  better  up  to  that 
time  than  to  work  from  hand  to  mouth,  and  there  did 
not  seem  to  be  a  job  in  prosp«.ct  anyhow.  One  night 
Hampton  Leedom  adv  ise«l  me  not  to  go  to  the  lumber 
yard  next  day  Invause  he  had  l)een  telling  Georee 
Godfrey,  of  (iodfrey  &  Crandall,  about  me.  I  took  his 
advice. 

Mr.  Godfrey  was  a  slight,  swart  man  who  had  char- 
acter and  ability.  He  looked  over  his  spectacles  at  me 
and  appared  cross  but  he  was  not.  T  had  heard  a  good 
deal  al)out  him.     He  was  a  greenbacker,  and  from  what 


I   DRIVE  A  COAL  WAGON 


71 


r  had  lienrd  of  prreonbackcru  from  my  father,  I  had  a 
fprvat  prejudice  uj;aiu8t  them  and  t!ouid  not  understand 
how  a  mau  could  be  one  and  a  respectable  citizen  at  the 
same  time.  That  George  Godfrey  could  be  gave  me  a 
uicHsurc  of  his  versatility. 

Ue  also  printed  the  Milwaukee  Commercial  Letter, 
which  was  edited  by  Mr.  Friese,  commercial  editor  of 
the  Sentinel.  Mr.  Godfrey  told  me  he  was  anxious  to 
ffet  circulation  for  the  Sifjnnl,  an  ambition  quite  com- 
mon to  publisliers  at  all  times.  He  said  he  did  not  wish 
to  keep  the  paper  but  could  not  dispose  of  it  to  advan- 
tage without  building  it  up  some.  I  thought  it  queer 
that  he  should  toll  me  these  things  and  concluded  it  must 
be  Ijecausc  I  came  from  LaFayettc.  where  he  had  a 
brother,  the  Methodist  preacher.  It  was  not  this  at 
all  as  I  came  to  know.  lie  was  just  one  of  those  open 
men  who  think  aloud  and  consequently  never  lie. 

I  got  a  job  soliciting  subscriptions.  The  Si^al  was 
Milwaukee's  first  two-cent  paper.  The  working  peo- 
ple had  never  been  canvassed,  I  think,  for  they  seemed 
eager  to  try  the  daily  at  ten  cents  a  week.  I  secured 
as  many  as  fifty  subscribers  in  a  day  at  Bay  View, 
where  lived  the  rolling  mill  employees  and  other  better 
paid,  skilled  workmen. 

My  success  made  me  quite  famous  in  the  office. 
Hampton  Leedom  told  me  I  ought  to  shuck  my  Hoosier 
togs  as  not  being  suited  to  my  new  stratum  in  the  world. 
He  gave  me  a  credit  with  F.  P.  Gluck.  tailor,  and  I 
used  it  to  obtain  my  first  made-to-order  suit. 

My  big  cowboy  hat  went  into  the  discard  with  the 
old  clothes  for  all  of  which  I  got  one  dollar  and  eighty 
cents,  at  a  West  Water  Street  den  of  three-ball  finance. 

Mr.  Go<lfrey  was  running  the  paper  in  quite  a  popu- 
lar way.     He  took  a  good  deal  of  advice  from  Robert 


-i 


MICROCOPY    RESOLUTION   TEST   CHART 

lANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No    7 


1.0 


I.I 


1^ 


12.8 


t  1^ 


2.5 


[2.2 
2.0 

1.8 


1.25 


1.4 


1.6 


A     ^'^'PLIED  IN/HGE 


'     "    EiSt    Ma.n    Street 

!5t5'.    N»«    >ork  !«6G9        „SA 

('  '6)   482  -  0300  -  Phone 
(716,   286  -  5989  -  Fa, 


72 


THE  IROJs^  HUNTER 


Schilling,  whose  socialist  paper,  Der  Deutsche  Re- 
former, was  printed  at  Godfrey  &  Crandall's.  Schill- 
ing was  a  strong,  earnest,  honest  propagandist, 

A  newspaper  man  named  C.  C.  Bowsfidd  came  along 
and  made  an  offer  for  the  f^ignnl.  He  got  it  and 
changed  the  name  to  the  Chronicle. 

Because  I  knew  how  to  handle  the  carrier  boys,  as 
demonstrated  one  tiirhulent  evening,  Bowsfield  made  me 
city  circnlator.  I  got  the  routes  arranged  and  made  a 
pretty  good  start  with  street  sales  and  newsdealers,  be- 
fore I  was  transferred  to  the  editorial  department. 
This  was  what  I  had  been  praying  for.  Koi  that  the 
writing  end  of  the  paper  was  very  formidable,  because 
It  was  not,  but  it  was  on  the  way  for  me. 

Bowsfield  chewed  a  toothpick  "and  looked  wise  and  im- 
portant as  owner  and  editor,  and  I  was  certain  he  felt 
just  as  he  looked. 

Darwin  Pavey,  assistant  to  Bowsfield,  was  between 
SIX  and  seven  feet  tall,  very  skelefony  and  ahvavs  looked 
hungry  as  his  big,  gray  eyes  wandered  alwut  'his  food- 
Jess  environs.  It  seemed  to  me  that  he  was  always  writ- 
ing puffs  for  the  Newhall  House  that  never  got  onto  the 
advertising  books.  This  was  proved  right  by  finding 
out  that  he  got  his  dinner  at  that  hotef  without  other 
pay.  They  even  permitted  him  to  carrv  fruit  and  stuff 
away  from  the  table.  Now  and  then  he  would  bait  me 
with  a  taste  uf  these  titbits. 

It  was  great  to  watch  him  pick  his  teeth  with  a  wire 
he  carried  to  clean  his  pipe.  I  thought  that  I  would 
strive  to  become  a  great  editor  like  Mr.  Pavev  and  also 
pick  my  teeth  with  a  j)ipe  wire  after  enjoving  a  sump- 
tuous dinner  at  a  two-dollar  hotel. 

The  Chronicle  did  not  prosper  any  better  than  the 
Signal     Bowsfield  got  new  blood  and  some  monev  into 


I  DRIVE  A  COAL  WAGON 


73 


it  by  interestinf?  Frank  A.  Flower.  I  never  had  known 
■iuch  a  man  as  Flower.  He  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  walk- 
ing dictionary.  But  he  could  not  supply  the  nourish- 
ment the  Chronicle  needed. 

My  salary  was  supposed  to  be  seven  dollars  a  week. 
I  had  been  ^'ettinp  enouch  of  this  barely  to  live  up  to 
the  point  it  stopped  altogether.  My  last  week  on  the 
paper  is  memorable  for  several  reasons.  I  had  been 
sent  to  pawn  Mrs.  Flower's  ear  rings  in  order  to  pay 
the  printers. 

We  were  all  in  terrible  shape.  I  had  gone  from  liv- 
ing on  fifteen  cents  a  day  to  a  generous  free-lunch  saloon 
on  East  Water  Street,  across  from  the  city  hall,  to  which 
I  was  introduced  by  (Jeorge  C.  Youngs,  a  printer  friend. 

Every  day,  nearly,  I  scooped  our  rival,  the  Evening 
Wisconsin.  The  very  police  seemed  to  be  won  by  the 
struggle  I  was  making  and  everybody  helped  out  with 
exclusive  news. 

Walter  Gardner,  city  editor  of  the  Wisconsin,  sent 
for  me.  I  went  with  quaking  knees,  caused  as  much  by 
lack  of  food  as  by  awe  and  desire  to  get  a  job  on  the 
richest  paper  in  town.  Not  in  all  my  life  before  or 
since  have  I  wanted  anything  so  much.  Mr.  Gardner 
asked  me  how  I  would  like  to  work  on  the  Wisconsin. 
I  replied  with  profound  insincerity: 

"  Oh !  I  don't  know." 

Manifestly  he  was  surprised. 

"What!"  he  exclaimed.  "Don't  you  realize  that 
you  are  a  real  newspaper  man  the  minute  you  come  over 
here?" 

I  bantered  him  with  the  query :  "  Is  that  why  they 
call  it  the  Evening  Granny  ?  " 

Gardner  was  said  to  be  a  college  man.  They  were 
rare  in  newspaper  offices  then.     He  had  a  reputation 


74 


THE  IROX  HUNTER 


nnd  was  superior,  but  he  had  but  a  dim  sense  of  humor. 
I  ecu  Id  see  that  he  was  struffp:linj;  between  a  desire  to 
kick  me  out  and  a  kind  of  admiration  of  mv  audacity. 
If  he  had  known  how  hij^h  my  piilp  was  he  would  have 
hired  me  on  the  spot.  Perhaps  lie  did  know  somewhat. 
Anyhow  he  offered  me  ten  dollars  a  week.  I  am  afraid 
now  that  I  tried  to  "jive  him  the  impression  that  mv 
wairps  were  more  than  that  on  the  Chromrh,  but  such  a 
F>n'{>osterous  idea  could  not  have  lodged  in  his  sober 
brain. 

We  had  more  conversation.  I  told  him  that  on  the 
Chromcle  I  was  the  whole  thing,  which  now  was  the 
truth,  with  the  exception  that  the  ])aper  never  would 
have  come  out  if  it  had  not  been  for  Julia  O'Brien,  a 
type  sticker,  and  Dick  Bavis,  the  foreman. 

They  kept  the  crew  going  with  such  pawnshop  money 
as  I  could  raise  for  Bowsfield  and  Flower,  who  were 
iifniid  thoy  would  be  caught  at  it  and  so  sent  me. 

Finally,  Gardner  offered  me  twelve  dollars  a  week 
and  the  haggling  stopped  instantly.  It  was  big  wages 
oven  in  Chicago,  and  unusually  good  for  Milwaukee. 
I  had  not  been  on  the  Wisconsin  long  before  Mr.  Gard- 
ner and  I  clashed.  He  ordered  me  to  write  in  his  style, 
which  I  could  not  do,  and  for  that  matter  nobody  could 
except  himself.  He  said  he  would  fire  me,  which  was 
a  bluff.  It  sent  me  with  my  trouble  to  Uncle  Billv 
Cramer,  senior  of  Cramer,  Aikens  &  Cramer,  owners  of 
the  Wisconsin  and  also  of  a  big  job  and  ready  print 
business  that  made  them  rich. 

Uncle  Billy  was  as  deaf  as  a  big  collection  of  adders 
and  nearly  blind  also.  His  other  senses  were  unim- 
paired and  the  story  of  his  marriage  some  time  after  this 
incident  was  a  raw  morsel  among  the  boys. 

I  think  my  nerve  in  bracing  him  personally  appealed 


r  DRIVE  A  COAL  WAGON 


75 


to  him.  Anyhow,  Mr.  Gardner  went  on  an  extended 
leave  for  his  health,  and  upon  returning  became  an  edi- 
torial writer. 

The  Chronicle  had  Ijcen  unloaded  on  Tom  and  Jim 
Somers,  democratic  law.vers  who  wanted  an  organ. 
They  got  one.  Frank  Fhjwer  came  over  on  the  "  Wis- 
conse  "  to  take  Gardner's  place  as  city  editor.  The  old 
paper  took  on  more  life  than  a  dojwd  race  horse. 

I  was  permitted  to  run  an  astounding  scandal  of  the 
county  farm,  involving  the  big  German  chairman  of  the 
county  board  of  supervisors  and  a  crippled  moron  girl. 
The  county  chairman  threatened  to  kill  me  on  sight. 
A.  H.  8chattonberg,  clerk  of  the  school  board,  warned 
me  of  my  danger  and,  as  it  was  against  the  law  to  carry 
concealed  weapons  he  gave  me  a  hatchet  to  defend  my- 
self with.  I  wore  it  openiy  in  a  belt,  and  Judge  Mal- 
lory,  of  the  Municipal  Court,  said  it  was  all  right. 
Julius  Meiswinkel,  clerk  of  the  court,  and  Aivin  Wie- 
bers,  his  assistant,  gave  me  a  duly  signed  permit  to  carry 
a  hatchet  until  I  elected  to  bury  it. 

This  began  to  make  me  a  marked  reporter.  Also  I 
never  walked.  During  the  time  T  was  in  Milwaukee 
I  always  ran  wherever  T  went.  Oftentimes  I  beat  other 
reporters  who  went  in  cabs  and  besides  I  saved  the  cab 
hire. 

The  libeled  person  took  a  new  tack.  lie  had  Uncle 
Billy  arrested  for  criminal  libel  and  had  me  arrested  on 
the  same  charge.  It  was  the  first  time  on  record  that 
an  attempt  was  made  to  fasten  such  responsibility  onto 
an  employee.  John  J.  Orton,  the  regular  Cramer, 
Aikens  &  Cramer  attorney,  and  W.  H.  Ebbitts,  a  noted 
criminal  lawyer  of  the  time,  defended  us.  We  were  put 
in  jail  for  a  short  time  for  the  dramatic  effect. 

On  the  very  same  day  a  German  youth  named  Her- 


Pi 


t  il 


76 


THE  niOS  HUNTER 


man  Hilden  rnnrdcrcd  his  stepfather.  The  Chicago 
Tribune  got  the  thine  mixed.  It  carried  a  Milwaukee 
dispatoh  to  the  effect  tliat  I  was  arrested  for  murder  and 
Hilden  for  criminal  lihcl.  As  the  rnhunc  had  a  large 
circulation  at  La  Fayette  my  bad  reputation  tliereaboutg 
was  further  fortified. 

We  had  the  gwds.  so  nothing  came  of  our  prosecution 
except  an  uplift  of  my  Icwal  reptitation.  The  Chicafjo 
Tribune  asked  me  to  take  charge  of  its  Milwaukee  bu- 
reau, which  J  di<l.  Also  I  got  quite  a  string  of  outside 
papers  and  l)egan  to  make  money  as  I  looked  at  things. 
The  Chicaf/o  Times'  man  in  Milwaukee  —  both  Trib- 
une and  Times  had  Milwaukee  bureaus  then  —  was  a 
booze  tighter  for  fair,  and  I  had  the  good  luck  to  pro- 
tect him  in  his  job  for  (piite  a  long  time. 

One  day  Herman  Hilden  broke  jail  with  other  pris- 
oners. ^  John  Kugee,  of  Dnrr  &•  Kugee,  had  become  sher- 
iff. Fat  office  those  times.  He  offered  a  reward  of 
three  hundred  dollars  for  Hilden.  A  clever  girl  friend 
of  mine,  a  telegraph  oj)erator  at  Appleton,  reported  to 
me  that  she  thought  she  had  spotted  Hilden,  I  followed 
up  the  clew,  located  him  and  told  the  IMilwaukee  sher- 
iff. I  waived  all  claim  to  the  reward,  but  saw  that  the 
girl  got  her  share. 

My  position  in  the  matter,  which  seemed  to  me  was  a 
simple  one  and  right,  made  me  a  very  lion  for  a  time. 
Sheriff  Rugee  gave  a  big  dinner  for  me  and  presented 
me  with  a  huge,  gold-headed  cane  which  quite  floored 
me.  T  did  not  any  more  know  what  to  do  with  that 
cane  than  T  would  with  an  elephant's  trunk,  if  one  had 
been  tied  to  me.  Its  destiny  was  to  be  broken  over  a 
dog  that  snapped  at  our  first  baby.  At  the  Rugee  din- 
ner it  was  discovered  that  less  than  a  year  before  I  had 
been  a  lumber  piler  in  lii^  yard,  and  it  made  quite  a  hit. 


1  DIUVK  A  COAL  WAGON 


Soon  afterwards  a  lii^'  wliolesalp  Jew  clothing  house 
was  burned.  John  lihu-k,  assistant  tire  chief,  told  uie 
the  owners  had  done  it.  He  took  me  from  fioor  to  floor 
and  showed  me  piles  of  kerosened  clothing  that  had  not 
completely  burned.  It  was  a  great  story  and  when  I 
told  Frank  Flower  all  alxnit  it  he  let  it  go.  Of  course, 
it  created  a  tremendous  sensation,  which  was  felt  in  the 
office  as  well  as  outside.  The  owners  started  a  libel 
suit.  It  looked  like  a  bad  fight,  and  while  we  of  the 
city  staff  were  hot  for  it,  our  wealthy  bosses  were  not 
so  keen. 

Two  days  later  occurred  IMilwaukee's  greatest  trag- 
edy, the  burning  of  the  Xewhall  House  and  one  hundred 
and  eleven  perisons.  This  swept  the  boards  of  the  pub- 
lic mind  clear  of  everything,  including  our  threatened 
libel  suit. 

Parenthetically,  the  insurance  on  the  clothing  stock 
was  never  paid. 

The  night  the  Xewhall  House  burned  I  was  in  that 
fated  fire  trap  until  after  midnight,  looking  up  inside 
stuff  al)f)ut  the  failure  of  Dixon  k  Co.,  gro<;ers.  I  can 
see  Tom  Thumb  yet  as  he  reached  up  his  cue  to  his  eyes 
while  playing  billiards.  After  watching  him  for  some 
time  I  left.  .Ml  the  way  home,  for  now  I  was  married, 
I  had  one  of  those  feelings  that  are  unexplainable. 
(iamblers  call  them  hunches.  Spiritualists  call  them 
warnings.  I  was  certain  that  some  big  thing  was  about 
to  happen.  It  was  the  first  time  I  had  sensed  anything 
like  it  enough  to  be  impressed.  The  Newhall  House 
was  a  fire  trap.  Everybody  predicted  it  would  burn. 
I  had  been  in  it  for  some  hours  just  before  and  wander- 
ing through  its  narrow  hallways,  had  dwelt  upon  the 
fire  butts  and  dried  and  wrinkled  reels  of  rotten  hose. 
Maybe  that  had  a  lot  to  do  with  my  feelings. 


78 


THE  IKON  HUNTER 


I  lived  on  21st  St  root  on  the  West  side  near  Grand 
Av.'nuc,  and  had  reached  the  corner  (.f  ISth  Street  on 
that  stately  thoroii-hfare.  AlK.nt  I  faced  and  started 
downtown.  Jnst  as  I  ^.„t  to  Hitli  Street  a  fire  alarm 
sounded,  quiekly  followed  l.y  a  jr,.„pral  alarm.  It  was 
./aniiary.  f  ran  as  swiftly  as  I  could  po  and  just 
reached  the  scene  in  time  to  witness  the  ineffaceahle 
spectacle  of  the  jumping  of  waitress  pirls  from  their 
sixth-story  attic  rooms  into  the  alley  below.  Some  of 
the  piests  leaped  into  the  telejrraj)!.  wires  and  broke 
their  tall.  My  old  employer,  Tncle  Billv  Cramer,  lived 
at  the  Xewhall.  I  soon  discovered,  to  mv  jjladness,  that 
he  had  been  led  out  quite  safelv. 

Tom  Thumb  received  injuries  from  which  he  subse- 
quently die.1.  liillv  Dodsworth,  of  the  American  Ex- 
press Company,  arrived  just  in  time  to  see  two  of  his 
best  tnends,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joslyn,  jumj)  to  death.  Mr. 
.loslyn  was  prominent  on  Vhanj^o.  With  his  wife  he  oc- 
cupied the  third  rioor  corner  rooms  of  Broadwav  and 
Michii^an.  Mr.  Dodswo.-th  had  influenced  them  to  put 
up  a  private  fire  escape,  but  in  their  panic  thev  forgot 
it.  I  have  had  and  have  witnessed  a  good  manv  tragic 
things  in  my  life  but  n.)tbing  so  apj.alling  as  the  Xew- 
hall holo,-aust.  The  men  1  saw  dying  at  the  siege  of 
(  onstantmople  had  a  chance  and  were  not  caught  like 
rats  in  a  trap. 

Jesse  James  was  operating  up  in  Wisconsin  then,  and 
the  Williams  Brothers,  of  ])„„„  Countv,  were  supposed 
to  be  a  part  of  his  gang.  Kverv  dete.-tive  or  would-be 
\  idoc(i  in  the  West  and  a  l.)t  from  the  East  had  lurid 
dreams  of  rounding  up  the  James  outfit  or  some  of  it. 
Old  Bill  Beck,  who  had  a  piece  of  his  jaw  shot  off.  leav- 
ing an  ugly,  facial  scar,  was  the  first'chief  of  police  I 
knew  in  ^^ilwaukee.      TI(>  wa^  a  war  time,  secret  ser^'ice 


1  DKIVE  A  COAL  WAGON  79 

detective  and  typical.     Under  his  direction  quite  a  de- 
tective force  incubated.     Some  of  them  were  too  funu.v 
for  anything  even  then,  but  Janssen  and  Hienier,  Billy 
ATciJanus,  .JoJin  Hantiirtu,  and  Smith  and  Sheeli'an  did 
good  work  from  the  first.     John  A.  Hii.scv  had  charge 
of  the  Chicago,   Milwaukee  A:   St.    Paul    Railroad  de- 
tectives  with   headquarters   in   ^filwaukec.     That  was 
bi'fore  the  offices  were  moved  to  Chicago.     Alexander 
Mitchell  and  S.  S.  Merrill  were  directing  tlie  master- 
ful contest  waged  against  the  Chicago  k  Xorthwesteru 
for  control  in  the  uew  Northwest.     William  C.  Van- 
Hon»>  was  general  superintendent  and  was  making  his 
record  as  a  lieutenant  that  resulted  in  his  being  drafted 
by  the  Canadian  I»acific  promoters.     Fred  Underwood 
afterwards   president   of   the    Erie,    was   a   brakeman! 
His  home  was  out  at  Wauwatosa,  where  his  father  was  a 
dignified  minister  of  the  gosptjl.     Tom   Shaughnessy, 
afterwards  Lord  Shaughnessy,  was  dealing  out  candles 
and  wicking  as  a  clerk  in  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St. 
Paul  Railroad  storehouse,  and  his  father  was  a  faith- 
ful, Third  Ward  policeman,  with  a  brogue  like  over- 
cooked mush. 

James  J.  Hill  and  Donald  Smith,  the  latter  after- 
wards Lord  Strathcona,  were  beginning  to  appear  in 
the  horizon  of  th.;  Northwest.  The  United  States  had 
just  failed  to  see  and  take  advantage  of  a  chance  to  pur- 
chase nearly  a  million  scpiare  miles  of  Hudson  Bay  Ter- 
ritory, which  would  have  given  us  an  unbroken  domain 
to  the  North  Pole,  including  the  now  famous  hard  wheat 
belt  of  the  North. 

The  vast  Northwest  had  begun  to  sizzle  as  the  fires  of 
settlement  and  commercial  desires  moved  up  to  it.  One 
could  tell  the  story  on  and  on  for  they  were  makim;  niei; 
in  Milwaukee  then. 


80 


TIIK  II{()N  IIIWTER 


Well,  as  I  wiis  siiviiijr,  jiH  flic  siciitlis  were  after  Jpsae 
James.  A  (h'|Mit.v  slicritr  named  Jim  (Jredinj;  had 
more  ima^iiiatidii  and  less  sense  than  any  one  [wrson  I 
ever  saw.  He  thonirht  he  was  a  detective.  LalH)rinf? 
nn(hr  that  (h  lusion  he  did  more  odd  thinjrs  than  eould 
l)e  tohl  in  a  tome.  Onee  he  eame  to  me  and  told  mc  iu 
a  whisper  that  vvfMild  hiirst  the  li'^teninjit  ear  of  I  Jiony- 
sius  in  the  latomia  of  Syraense,  that  he  had  hn-ated  his 
quarry.  I  followed  him  over  to  (Jrand  Avenue.  He 
stealthily  approached  the  sal<'sr<M»m  of  the  Sinjrer  Sew- 
ing Mai-hine,  where  an  inolVeiisive  citizen  named  Beach 
was  planning  furtln-r  raids  on  the  Wheeler  A:  Wilson. 

''That's  him!  "said  Jim. 

It  was  hard  to  keep  my  face  strai^dit,  hut  I  sicked 
Jim  on  until  Beach  nearly  hroke  every  Ixiiie  in  his 
hody.  This  didn't  feaze  him,  for  one  day  a  rulM,'  named 
William  Kuhl  eame  to  town  and  Jim  at  once  marked 
hun  for  the  desperado  Lon  Williams.  He  really  got 
Kuhl  into  the  coop  and  finding  a  sear  on  his  toe  that 
tallied  with  Williams,  they  spirited  him  to  Dunn 
County  for  final  identification,  which  was  so  success- 
ful that  it  proved  conclusively  who  he  was  not. 

But  Jim  had  us  all  fooled  for  a  while.  J  had  myself 
locked  up  with  the  pseudo  Lon,  and  so  eager  was  I  to 
believe  Kuhl  to  he  a  villain  for  the  story  there  was  in  it, 
that  I  had  no  difficulty  in  doing  so.  It  was  a  great  les- 
son to  me. 

I  learned  how  easily  one  can  be  misled  in  the  direction 
he  would  like  to  proceed. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


MABRIED    ON    CK£I)1T    I    (il\  K     MY     HKIIiK    A    FIVE    CENT 

BOLQLET  AND  \VK   TAKE  A   WEUIUNO  TRIP  1)N   A 

STUEET    tAIJ 

THE  best  act  of  my  lift-  was  performed  in  Milwau- 
kee when  I  fell  in  love  and  married.  I  do  not 
know  how  any  one  could  l)e  more  deeply  in  love 
than  I  was,  unless  I  am  now,  and  I  think  I  am.  My 
sweetheart  was  seventeen  and  I  was  twenty.  I  was 
refused  a  marriaj?e  license  on  this  account.  The  mo- 
ment we  became  of  age  I  secured  the  license  and  we  wen- 
married  by  the  Reverend  F.  L.  Stein,  pastor  of  the 
Grand  Avenue  Methodist  Episcojjal  (^hurch,  in  the  par- 
lors (.f  his  parsonage,  Saturday  evening.  May  7,  1881. 

I  gave  my  bride  a  five  cent  bouquet  from  the  German 
market,  paid  the  preacher  two  dollars  down  and  three 
dollars  on  the  installment  plan  and  paid  (J luck,  the 
tailor,  for  my  wedding  suit  in  the  same  way. 

We  joyously  took  our  bridal  tour  on  one  of  Washing- 
ton Becker's  street  cars  drawn  by  horses,  and  spent  the 
evening  with  Obser\-er  irur-lle/  of  the  United  States 
Weather  Bureau  and  Mrs.  Mueller. 

If  any  bridegroom  was  ever  happier  before  or  since 
it  is  because  of  his  greater  cajjacity  for  emotion.  I  had 
wedded  the  most  beautiful  and  tiie  bravest  girl  in  the 
world,  and  I  know  this  now  better  than  I  thought  it 
then.  There  never  has  been  a  time  in  .Vfrican  jungle 
or  any  other  place  demanding  courage,  when  my  wife 
has  not  been  the  braver  of  the  two. 

81 


82 


TlIK  IKON  lirXTKK 


I  niiulo  juiiny  friends,  tuid  uxw  of  tin-  dear  ono8,  Co]- 
oiH'l  .F.  A.  Wiifrtins,  was  dirccflv  n'spfin.sililc  for  iiiv  go- 
iiif;  ro  KIniciicc  as  t<ild  in  a  y)rrvious  rliaptrr.  M.v  cliar- 
actrr  hfpiii  to  take  form  in  Xortlicrn  Wismnsin.  T 
wifdicd  to  provide  for  ni.v  wife  and  faniiiv  and  Iw  a  jrood 
liUHband  and  eiti/en.  That  was  ait  undertakin.T  hip 
enou<.'h.  ConiiitioiH  at  once  compelled  me  to  nuike  a 
decision  hetween  the  onthiws  and  the  litth-  I'reshvterian 
Chureh,  At  that  time  I  did  not  formally  join  the 
ehureh,  hut  I  did  enlist  for  the  aims  of  the  church.  It 
is  nearly  true  hut  not  (pjite  exactly  tlie  case  that  it  was 
put  up  to  me  to  1m'  a  horse  thief  or  a  Presbyterian,  and 
I  chose  to  bo  the  latter. 

At  Florence  I  had  my  first  real  initiation  into  the 
politics  of  the  times.  Iliram  Damon  Fisher,  a  g«x)d- 
hearted,  canny  Green  Mountaineer,  Immii  at  Verf^ennes, 
Vermont,  was  the  hi<j  man  «»f  the  place  in  everything. 
He  was  the  discoverer  of  the  adjacent  iron  mine  that 
nuide  the  town  po>sihle, 

Mr.  Fisher  had  '*  entered  "  from  the  G(.vernmcnt  most 
of  the  environal  land  to  the  extent  of  thousands  of  acres. 
His  plan  was  to  secure  the  minutes  (descriptions)  and 
take  them  to  the  capitalists  t(»  he  purchased  from  the 
public  domain  at  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  an 
acre.  Generally  one  (piarter  interest,  but  sometimes 
only  one-ei«'hth  and  infrefpiently  tliree-eii>hths  would  be 
jriven  the  cruiser,  or  whatever  person  supplied  the 
chance.  Tti  this  nuinner  nuich  of  the  best  of  tlie  valu- 
able public  domain  fell  into  a  few  hands. 

All  sorts  of  thinjrs  had  fall(>n  to  the  lot  of  the  father 
of  Florence  before  he  jrot  his  start.  He  was  a  sailor 
on  l-iike  Winnebairo  and  Fox  River,  connecting:  that 
water  with  Green  Bay,  where  liis  finer  character  was 
shown  by  sayins:  "  jeeswax  "  instead  of  the  pn)fanity 


A  Wi:i)l)lNG  TUIP  ON  A  STKKKT  V\H     88 

that  was  more  plontifjilly  charged  with  htenutglobin. 

B«K)k  jM-ddlinK  curried  hira  into  iiiHurancf,  and  while 
thtis  «'nguKed  he  mot  Kmil.v,  the  U'uutiful  diiughtpr  of 
Joseph  Kc.ves,  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Wiseonsin. 

Boss  Keves,  a  son  of  Joseph,  was  u  politiejil  power 
and  for  a  long  iK'rio<l  dominated  in  Wiseoiisjn. 

Joseph  Keves  eanie  to  be  registrar  of  the  United 
States  land  offiee  at  Xfenasha.  Young  Fisher  got  into 
the  atmosphere  of  the  office  instinetivek,  as  well  as  into 
the  g«H)d  graces  of  the  majestic  daughter. 

lie  camped  at  the  Keves.  WfK»ds  cruisers  would 
come  in  with  the  information  gathered  after  long  and 
adventurous  trips.  Oftentimes  thev  were  only  con- 
cerned with  certain  specified  parcels  of  land,  but  in 
going  to  or  from  that  location  they  wotild  incidentally 
gatlH'r  much  information  about  timln'r.  rrn-ks,  soil,  fur, 
game,  Indians  and  what  not.  Very  often  they  would 
race  with  other  woo<lsmen  for  some  rich  stake,  nearly 
always  pine  timber.  Thrilling  canoe  trips  in  summer 
and  great  hikes  on  snow  shoes  trailing  toboggans  in 
winter  were  common. 

The  time  Charley  LaSalle  lost  his  trapping  "  pard- 
ner"  up  on  Lac  Vieux  Desert  in  the  middle  of  the 
winter  and  froze  the  corpse  until  spring,  when  he  pain- 
fully and  laboriously  trudged  out  with  it  for  some  hun- 
dreds of  miles,  was  a  chief er  tale,  and  the  fellow  who 
did  not  know  all  about  it  was  the  worst  of  lob-gobs  — 
tenderfeet. 

When  these  couriers  du  hois  were  at  the  land  office, 
and  some  of  them  were  there  every  day,  Damon  Fisher 
would  cultivate  them.  A  drink  here,  or  a  plug  of  to- 
bacco or  a  present  of  a  pipe  and  the  jolly  young  Yankee 
was  their  bosom  friend. 

Then  they  would  tell  him  ever%-thing,  even  the  se- 


S4 


THK  llios  IirXTKR 


i.ra(  non  wjis  so  strong 
s„.  ri'Ii       '•'  '  TT  '''"^'"^    ^^'^''^■'-  «   ■'^"'«1J   P.VoP  of 

^^  ^;^"^  't'^^:  t'^"  -»'^^  >*.  ^i.  .r, 

'^>"<'n.      lliP  wo,„ls  woro  a  torra  iiwcmiita  to  I,i,n    «,n 

'"!,''.*'"  V"  ^"^"d  wo.)ds,„an  na,m.d  X(>Iso„  IlaI.ev 

Th  >'r  "''^'  -''^  '"^'"''  ^'•'>  "!•   ■■"»'>  the  wilds 

nu-y  <.„„|d  ^.o  a.s  far  as  Green  Uav    ,v  rail    and  then 
they  had  to  atfaek  the  brush       F.„.I,'.     '    '^"":  ^"^  ^hen 

.IN  pi,  nn  „f  l„„r  a„j  ,„„^_  ,^„  .,_,^, 

^tatifrhters  eoalina:  radius  is. 

Tea    ^rillades  and  ^..I^tte  for  breakfast  and  sunner 
nd  e.  d  dou,h-^od  for  luneh  made  up  th.-  wood  Tre 
of  ..11  who  deserved  the  name  of  eruiser.      It  wa.  weir 

had  not  been  a  b,-  one  to  start  with 

'  :  1"*'  I'''-     ^'^''^''-  .l"^t  would  not  jrive  up.     He  ex- 
hausted his  mean^  so  eon.nV-telv  th.,f  l„.  ,.      u  i 
five  Holl..r.  f .  1        ii        "•Py'^'>  r'i.H  I"'  would  l)orrow 
dollar,  to  buy  flour  ,.,th.  and  when  pressed  would 


b( 


littl 


A  WEDDING  TRIP  ON  A  STREET  CAR     85 

.rrow  of  aiiotliCT  in  order  to  pay  tl.e  original  loan. 
Jn  this  way  of  high  finance  he  kept  himself  and  his 


le  erew  in  the  wood 


nance 

must  be  success  or 
Anybody  who  ever  had  confidence  in 


an  end  to  it  a 
liim  had  lost  it 

So  it  came  to  the  third  mid-summer's  prospecting. 
Ualsey  and  Reyes  were  looking  for  a  corner  in  order  to 
Ocate  themselves.  They  were  in  a  dense  cedar  swamp 
iK^tween  two  small  lakes.  Fisher  wandered  about  quite 
aimles.sly  and  got  away  from  his  men.  Coming  to  the 
•■dge  of  the  swamp  he  climbed  a  hill,  so  that  he  miH,t 
get  a  birds'eye  view  of  the  country  if  possible.  But  it 
was  too  thickly  timbered  at  the  hilltop.  Then  he  hal- 
looed to  his  men.     No  answer. 

"  Ix)st!  by  jeeswax,"  he  soliloquized. 
ire  sat  down  and  took  out  his  small  exploring  pick 
Sticking  ,t  in  the  ground  at  haphazard,  as  one  would 
I'l  y  play  mumbletypeg  alone,  he  pulled  it  out  and  be- 
iiold !     The  point  was  red. 

He  had  stuck  it  into  hematite  just  beneath  the  leaf- 
mold.  Feverishly  he  scraped  away  the  leaves  and  plied 
tlie  little  pick.     There  was  iron  ore. 

Restoring  the  original  appearance  Fisher's  next  task 
was  to  find  his  men  or  have  them  find  him.  The  work 
of  anxious  months  was  at  an  end. 

Thus  was  discovered  the  Menominee  Iron  Range 
Not  even  telling  Halsey  and  Keves  when  thev  came 
together,  Fisher  started  for  Menasha  just  as  ^oon  as 
he  was  certain  of  the  section  his  find  was  on.  The  land 
was  entered.  More  weary  years  ensu(>d  before  John 
11.  Van  Dyke  and  Albert  Conro  of  ]\[ilwaukoe,  and  A 
(  .Brown  of  Marinette,  and  Henry  Patton  of  Menasha 
and  other  rich  bankers  were  interested. 

The  railroad  followed,  and  then  development  and 


86 


THE  IRON  HUNTER 


richos      To  secure  all  this  Fisher  had  to  give  up  to 
capital  three-fourths  of  his  discovery. 

Two  lakes  may  be  seen  from  the  denuded  crest  of 
Florence  Mine  hill.  The  one  to  the  southwest  is  called 
Ke.ves  and  the  nearer  one,  which  is  southeast,  is  called 
tisher.  On  the  banks  of  the  latter,  in  a  beautiful  lo- 
cation  ,s  the  „,ini„.r  villn.^c  of  Florence,  named  for 
Mrs.  N.  P.  Hulst,  of  Milwaukee. 

It  was  Afr.  Fisher  who  came  to  have  a  drag  on  the 
tOH-n  weekly,  as  a  quite  common  result  of  loaninc  to  it 
small  sums  of  money.  I  went  north  in  response  to  a 
wire  from  him  to  Colonel  Watrous.  The  Colonel  a 
."ost  geiK.rous  and  l:r..,vo  n.,„,  s.w  n,o  ..lin.hir.g  Jhe 
stairs  of  the  Wisconsin  building  with  a  series  of  j^mps. 

'i^A    \"l  ''■^'  ""'  ""''  ^"«''  «"d  *''«  •'''«"'^«2/  Telegraph 
published  by  Calkins  &  Watrous,  on  another.        ^    ^ 

mysdr^"^^  ™^  '^  ^  '''""^"^  '■''''  ^"^  ^^  "'^"  ^"''''^''  ^°' 

I  answered,  "  You  bet !  »  without  a  moment's  thought 
ot  capital.  *= 

That  was  four  o'clock,  p.  m.  I  left  on  the  six  o'clock 
train,  two  hours  later,  and  did  not  return.  Mr  Fisher 
asked  me  how  much  money  I  had.  I  told  him  eight v 
dollars.  He  asked  me  how  much  I  could  raise.  I  told 
him  all  that  was  necessary. 

"  Where  ?  "  he  queried. 

"  You."  I  replied. 

"  All  right,"  he  said. 

I  signed  notes  for  two  thousand,  five  hundred  dol- 
lars, at  ten  per  cen^,  all  to  be  paid  in  a  vear 

It  took  sixty  dollars  of  my  eighty  dollars  to  bring 
up  my  wife  and  babe  and  our  scant  household  truck 
1  did  not  know  there  was  a  great  depression  in  iron 
and  that  the  mine  was  idle.     A  small  force  was  working 


A  WEDDlXCi  TRIP  OX  A  STKEET  CAR     87 

two  miles  away  at  Commonwealth.  There  was  some 
lumbering.  Over  the  Michigan  Hue  there  was  a  good 
deal  of  exploring  in  the  region  of  Tobin  Lake,  and  along 
tlie  1  aint  and  Iron  rivers,  where  the  towns  of  Crystal 
tails  and  Iron  River  were  just  starting.  Small  mines 
had  opened  at  the  Delphic  and  Mastodon  locations 

Edward  Breitung,  of  Negaunee,  was  doing  some  -vork 
at  the  ower  Pine  River  falls,  and  Angns  Smith,  of 
Milwaukee^  had  an  exploring  crew  on  the  Menominee, 
near  Bad  Water  Indian  village.  The  Lake  Elwood  sec- 
tion, between  Spread  Eagle  and  Pine  River,  was  also 
attracting  attention.  Norway,  Quinnesec  and  Iron 
Mountain  were  flourishing  new  towns.  Keel  Ridge 
mine  had  caved  in  and  killed  a  number  of  men,  the 
tirst  big  tragedy  of  the  range. 

The  Breens  and  others  had  done  some  work  in  the 
vicinity  of  Waucedah,  which  had  been  abandoned  as 
beyond  the  extension  of  the  productive  iron  formation, 
there  was  much  excitement  in  the  Metropolitan  and 
teich  mountain  regions  and  the  Chicago  &  Northwest- 
ern built  a  branch  in  from  Narenta,  but  the  ore  bodies 
turned  out  to  be  a  shallow  blanket,  and  large  sums  of 
money  were  lost. 

To  say  that  I  worked  night  and  day  is  the  only  de- 
scription of  my  activity.  I  loved  the  wild  new  country. 
It  brought  into  play  everything  that  a  soul  and  miiid 
and  body  possesses.  Nearly  all  the  pioneers  were 
young.  The  pace  demanded  youth.  Jim  Knight  had  a 
paper  at  Norway.  I  think  they  called  it  the  Chronicle 
then ;  now  his  paper  is  the  Currenl.  Boulders  Bennett 
was  a  feature  of  it. 

Jim  Russell,  then  a  bellicose  tyro,  since  become  an 
able  and  dignified  penologist,  had  just  joined  A.  P. 
Swineford  in  the  Marquette  Mining  Journal     George 


88 


TirF-:  TROy  HUNTER 


Newet  ,  a  wavs  a  man  and  now  famous  for  hU  tilt  witli 
tolond  Roosevelt,  ran  the  Iron  Agitnlor  ~no^^■  Iron 
Ore  at  Tshpem.ng.  0.  G.  Griffey  was  pluffginff  awav 
with  the  .V.v.,„„,c/ro«//cr«W.  ^    &g>»g  ««'«:> 

A  fine  fellow  named  Deveroux  seemed  out  of  the 
world  with  the  Portage  Lake  Mininr,  Gazette  at  Hough- 
ton and  he  gave  it  a  tone  that  was  high  and  distinctive. 
I-  red  MeKenz.e  was  at  Calumet,  where  he  had  a  pos- 
ter affair  mueh  like  his  omi  pudgy  self.  Alfred  Meads, 
fatheT  of  them  all  and  a  credit  to  everxthing  he  con- 
Mimr    ^^^  ^'""*^'''  P"^^'"'''^'*  «^   '^^"^  Ontonagon 

Colonel  Van  Duzer,  a  veteran  of  Sherman's  armv, 
published  he  Exrannha  Iron  Port,  and  the  wav  the 
splendid  old  hero  "marched  to  the  sea"  every 'issue 
was  good  for  contemplation. 

I  have  mentioned  this  press  personnel  because  these 
men  had  more  to  do  with  developing  the  social  and  civic 
structure  in  their  respective  communities,  that  were  in 
tiirn  interwoven,  than  all  the  aequisitors  whatsoever 
>.very  one  <.f  them  waged  a  battle  for  equalitv  and  de- 
cenj  every  minute  and  it  was  a  prideful  thing  to  know 

The  mning  Journal,  of  Marquette,  and  the  Green 
/%  Advocate  just  about  controlled  things  in  the  new 
iield  I  had  entered.  It  was  my  business  to  drive  them 
out,  which  I  did.  I  could  do  it  only  bv  appealing  to 
local  loyalty  and  meeting  their  competition.  I  started 
departments  in  my  paper  for  Iron  River  and  Crystal 
Falls  and  at  last,  when  forced,  I  printed  papers  for  these 
towns,  that  were  set  up  and  run  off  at  Florence. 


CHAPTER  IX 

I    UNDERTAKE    THE    STUM'    OF    IRON    ORE    AND   ENGAGE 
IN    EXPLORATION   AND    PROSPECTING 

MY  .    vpgpaper  work  and  its  involvements  did  not 
.cive  me  enoncrh  to  do  so  I  bepiu  a  systematic 
study  of  iron  ore  exploration  in  all  of  its  prac- 
tieal   and   scientific   phases,   an   enjovable  life's   work 
which  I  still  keep  np  and  which  Las  attracted  me  to 
every  country  in  the  world.     Woodcraft  and  surveving 
are  as  necessary  as  anything  else  in  a  new  country. 
The  government  survey  of  N-orthern  Miclii-an  and 
Wisconsin  was  made  between  1850  and  ISfiO   "  ]\r...tlv 
It  was  well  done  but  not  always.     Townships  six  miles 
square  were  measured  off  north  and  south  from  an  ar- 
bitrary base  line  and  east  and  west  from  a  range  or 
meridian  line.     These  townships  were  subdivided  into 
thirty-six  sections  one  mile  square,  and  the  sections  were 
quartered;  later  to  be  divided  into  fortv-acre  lots  bv 
county  surveyors.     The  section  corners  and  the  points 
inidway  between  them,  quarter  stakes,  were  marked, 
(xreat  care  was  given  to  marking  the  section  corner 
WTiether  the  monument  was  a  cedar  stake,  or  of  some- 
thing else,  charcoal  was  buried  at  its  base.     Then  l>ear- 
mg  or  witness  trees,  four  when  possible,  were  non^rod 
with  the  legend  of  the  location.      Accurate  location  bv 
distance  and  direction  was  made  on  the  field  notes.     Ob- 
servations of  topography  and  geology  were  also  written 
on  the  field  notes,  making  them  very  valuable.     The 

89 


90 


THE  IRON  HUNTER 


povrrnmont  sun-oy  by  the  United  States  i,  a  creditable 
piinlio  acliiovement. 

rJ!  '''''V";T' o'^  ^"  '""''^•^  ^''^  magnetic  fields  in  the 
ro^mn  of  Lake  Snporior  with  an  ordinary  compass. 
NocPss.ty  thns  lod  to  the  contrivaneo  of  Rnrt's  iolar 
compass  wlnc-h  has  b..en  d.-v.-loped  now  into  the  dial 
compass,  a  still  more  nsefnl  instrnment. 

It  was  a  memorable  day  wh.>n  ^fr.  Fisher,  at  mv  re- 
quest, took  me  into  the  wor,ds  and  showed  me  for  the 
tirst  time  an  nnmarred  section  corner  and  three  wit- 
ness trees  Another  lesson  was  to  walk  alon,r  the  section 
Jine  two  thousand  paces  to  the  next  comer,  locating  the 
quarter  stake  enronte.  I  bold  a  compass  straight  in 
frmit  of  my  body,  waist  high,  as  I  took  sights  along  the 

At  noon  we  had  a  bouillon  made  of  a  pileated  wood- 
pecker. I  had  never  before  seen  this  beautiful  bird. 
Air.  Fishrr  called  it  a  wood  cock  and  informed  me  that 
It  was  a  fine  game  bird.  It  is  just  as  good  to  eat  as 
any  woodpecker  and  no  better.  They  are  rapidlv  dis- 
.'.?>pc":irn.ir  and  arc  even  more  scarce  than  their  souHiern 
rival,  the  ivory  bill.  I  have  never  permitted  the  killing 
of  one  since  that  day  except  for  alleged  scientific  pur- 
poses, and  not  many  with  that  now  poor  excuse 

By  evening  Mr.  Fisher  said  he  could  teach  me  no 
more;  that  all  the  rest  of  it  would  have  to  come  by  the 
pxperience  that  would  attend  keeping  at  it. 

The  Gogebic  and  Mesaba  ranges  and  their  extensions 
were  little  known  and  undeveloped.     Charles  Wri-ht 
poologist,  had  maue     hat  is  yot  the  best  map  of  the  Me- 
nominee  range. 

The  Brotherton  boys,  of  Escanaba,  doing  the  practical 
work,  and  John  M.  Longyear.  the  clerical,  for  the  Lake 
Superior  Ship  Tanal   Railway  &  Iron  Company,  had 


THE  STUDY  OF  IRON  ORE  91 

madf  valuable  land  jrrant  seloctious  along  what  lias  boen 
developed  since  as  tlir  GnfroWw  range.  While  doing  this 
work  Mr.  Longyear  laid  the  foundation  for  his  great 
fortune  by  s(H^uring  tuoiwy  backing  and  taking  up  lands 
adjoining,  utilizing  the  Hroth.-rton  information  for  the 
purpose  and  obtaining  a  quarter  interest  in  everythine 
thus  entered. 

The  entire  Lake  Superior  eountrv  was  overrun  by 
agents  of  rapacious  interests  of  one  1  d  or  another. 
Honiesteaders  were  struggling  for  a  share  with  no  inten- 
tion of  making  a  home,  rnearned  land  grants  were 
being  fought  for.  It  was  a  (Jolconda  and  greed  was 
after  the  diamonds.  Beneath  it  all  was  a  current  flow- 
ing that  was  certain  to  purif  v  everything.  One  had  but 
to  glance  below  the  murky  surface  of  the  present. 

Before  I  left  Florence  N.  I).  Moore  and  others  were 
working  in  the  Gogebic  region  and  with  the  coming  of 
the  railroad  the  Colby  mine  was  opened. 

My  first  year  at  Florence  witnessed  the  payment  for 
the  little  paper.  Three  years  more  of  work  there- 
brought  more  than  a  living  so  that  when  I  sold  out  early 
in  1887  I  had  nearly  ten  thousand  d((llars  and  the  worUl 
by  the  tail. 

Mr.  Fisher,  egged  on  by  Boss  Keyes  and  a  natural 
tendency,  took  part  in  all  the  politics  from  the  township 
"  corkis  "  to  the  state  convention.  In  fact,  he  was  the 
political  entity  of  the  county  and  aspired  to  go  to  the 
legislature  some  day.  In  order  to  facilitate  this  and  de- 
fine more  clearly  his  realm,  he  had  Florence  County 
cut  out  of  Marinette  and  erected. 

When  there  was  any  kind  of  a  convention  he  would 
.send  for  me  and  we  would  together  write  out  a  list  of 
names  of  delegates,  issue  their  credentials  and  sign 
them,  and  that  was  all  there  was  to  it.     I  have  no  idea 


92 


THE  IRON  HUNTER 


that  I  would  havp  Wn  fonsulted  if  it  had  ik.i  hoon 
necessary  to  have  some  oiif  sign  as  secretary  of  the  con- 
vention that  was  never  held. 

At  first  I  thonprht  it  was  a  trifle  irregular,  but  as  I 
did  not  know  anything  about  the  proper  form,  a  brief 
conversation   with  the  well-intending  1(K'ii1  Ik)ss  caused 
me  to  have  no  (jualnis;  and,  in  fact,  I  am  certain  that 
Mr.    Fislicr  wns  c(  iiscicntidus  in   also   hclicvini:   it   to 
be  all  right.     They  all  did  that  way,  he  told  me.     The 
candidature  for  congress  of  Mr.   Isaac  Stephenson,  a 
Nova  Scotian  lumberman  at  Marinette,  reputed  to  be 
nearly  a  millionaire  at  a   time   when  those  common- 
places were  uncommon,  was  announced.     II  is  district 
was  the  Ninth  Wisconsin.     Sounds  like  a  military  com- 
pany, docs  it  not^     It  included  Florence  County'     We 
were  entitled  to  two  delegates  and  whom  else  could  we 
appoint  but  ourselves?     There  was  no  other  thought 
in  our  minds  even  if  others  might  have  had  them. 

Soon  after  our  popular  selection  as  delegates  a  most 
confounding   thing   oc-curred    that    sturapt'd    me   com- 
pletely for  a  while.     Mr.  A.  C.  Brown,  of  Marinette, 
a  lumbering  partner  of  Mr.  Stephenson,  came  to  Flor- 
ence and  actually  called  on  me.     I  was  boyishly  glad  to 
be  recognized   by  Mr.  Brown,  who  really  was  a  fine 
gentleman  and   rich.     My   legs  were  almost   removed 
from  perpendicular  connection  with  my  body  when  he 
pulled  out  a  fifty  dollar  bill  and  handed  it  to  me.     I 
had  never  seen  one  before  and  my  first  idea  was  that  it 
might  be  a  millionaire's  calling  card,   indicating  his 
status,  and  only  to  be  taken  and  returned.     So  I  took  it 
and  searched   it  minutely  and  then  offered  to  give  it 
back.     He  waved  it  aside  with  an  imperious  smile,  as  if 
to  convey  that  he  had  more  of  them  than  could  be  loaded 
into  one  of  his  Brule  River  batteaux. 


THE  STUDY  OF  IRON  ORE  03 

"  But  what  is  it  for  ?  "  I  asked. 

Ho  stvinod  stu.-k  for  a  s,.,.,„k1  and  thon  replied   ''  For 
subsonption  to  the  il//«,„y  A>„.^."  ^       ' 

And  I  thoufrUt  it  was ;  eross  my  heart.     So  I  ran  over 
'n  my  m.nd  how  long  Mr.  Brown  would  have  paid  i.' 

dvanee  at  two  dolhus  and  fin,  ..nts  a  year,  or  wheth 
tZtrnZr'  ''  ''^  "^  ''-''^'  '^-on,  n.n..s  I. 

visltinrath"r  ,^'^''''"''  '"  ''•"^'  ^'  ■^'^•^'  «"d  after 

to  la3  ^      [  '  eonvent.o,.  where  we  would  be  certain 
to  land  Stephenson  all  right. 

I  was  also  eertain,  beeause  Boss  Keves  wao  for  Ste- 

wtr  VLh'  ^-- -^^  Stephenson  XLsl: 
was  for  Stephenson ;  Mr.  Fisher  was  for  Stephenson 
and  wln.n  else  e,.nM  I  ,„.  ,,,  and  I  did  not  iZw  the 
other  fellow  if  there  was  one. 

Then,  was  no  nee,!  <.f  scattering  money  all  over  the 
d  stnet  the  way  they  did,  exeept  for  the  observa   on 
the  same  good  form  that  makes  a  fellow  set  'em  up  aua 
who  has  had  a  drink  with  some  one  bnvin..    or^b 
room  orou^.     And  yet  the  money  smoothed  the  Ja    to 
Congress  for  Unele  Ike  just  as  he  i.ed  logging  rods 
or  as  a  ship's  ways  are  greased  befon-  launehing^  ' 

.2      ""  ,V    !  ^^"'"""^  '  ^^"«'"*'""  «^ainst  the  pre- 
vailing pohtieal  methods  oeeurred  and  eonventions  and 

7nZi:T'  ^^""^^,^^>^'.^"*  ^  ^-v  interested  persons 
pulled  the  strings  and  manipulated  things  just  the  same. 


CHAPTER  X 

MY    FIRST   TRIP    INTO    TIIK    TKACKLKSs    wiLDS    OF 
rXKXl'LORKI)   CANADA 

I"TV\""{r-V  'ulvantflfro  nt  Floronoo  and  moved 
f>m-k  to  M.hvank.c  ...d  took  a  positio,.  „s  Htv 
nVk  :f";7^^'";;^'""/'""'-  To,..tlK.r  wi,l,  Hnrrv  ArO- 
rp.t  and  W.ll  Anderson,  nil  nou.papor  nu-n.  T  started 

V  Tnd  tJ^""  ?•'!'"'  ?'"  •^'''"'-  '^"'^  '^^"""/"'^'"'•.r,  which 
\\<   iin«l  KinirA-  fowlo  print. 

Tho  GoH>i<'  ranffo  was  Wminp.  ]\riIwaukoo  went 
ro„  mad  In,,,  n,iMe  .Uu-h.  ,v<.re  tra.h.l  in  l.v  tl  ,.  pnh- 
!.<•  spovx^hUwU-  for  the  first  time  in  Ameriea  in  ISS? 
As  nsnal  fortunes  were  n.a.le  and  lost,  and  the  stari 
^.-.s  made  of  many  spoetaenlnr  eareers,  sneh  as  that  of 
rerd.natid  Schlesinger,  that  took  oven  banks  up  and 
down.  ^ 

I  had  a  few  stoeks  and  sold  them,  hut  did  not  buv  anv 
nor  speculate.  Tt  ^ut  to  he  ncisr  I  around  that  I  was 
an  e.xp.r.  ,ron  ore  man.  This  was  based  on  the  faet 
th.  I  had  been  under^rround  in  nearly  everv  mine  and 
exploration  ,n  the  Lake  Suy^erior  ranges,  and  had  writ- 
ten muun^ir  dope  that  was  jriven  wide  publieirv.  I  did 
not  intend  to  pose  as  an  expert.  Tn  faet,  iron  ore  ex- 
ploration was  then  done  by  jruess  and  bVosh  bv  the  best 
ot  tiem.  Ao  one  person  s.omed  to  be  able  to  see  much 
farther  into  the  jrround  than  another. 

Anyhow,  I  was  consulted  and  I  think  I  was  honest 

94 


THE  TKACKLKSS  WILDS  OF  CANADA     9r> 

One  day  a  man  camo  to  me  and  told  mo  a  svndicatr  of 
^ilwuukfo  and  VUica^n  men  had  IxH-n  formed  to  make 
some  examinations  of  the  Koho  Lake  region  of  Canada, 
and  he  asked  me  if  I  would  take  ehar^'e  of  them      I 
had  no  more  idea  where  E.'ho  Lake  was  than  the  man 
m  the  moon.     We  did  not  diseuss  that,  hut  ean.e  to 
terms  upon  the  general  proposition,  and  r  en^ap^d  to  im. 
M.y  pay  was  fiv..  hundred  dolh.rs  a  month  and  expense., 
ami  I  was  to  have  a  quarter  intere.^t  in  anvthini;  I  found 
worth  taking  hohl  of.      If  I  l,,,!  ask.-d  anv  less  during 
that  boom  they  woi.ld  not  have  thought  me  an  exixTt 
at  all,  and  as  it  was  they  thou-ht  I  was  too  ,.h(.nn.  as  I 
afterwards   learned.     As   for  myself,    I   was   in   nn.eh 
doubt  ot  my  ability  to  earn  my  wages,     liut  I  did  and 
more. 

Four  aetive  years  in  the  woods  of  the  Menominee 
range,  during  whieh  I  had  repeatediv  visited  and  stud- 
ied explorations  and  formations  fro.n  one  end  of  the 
range  to  the  other,  had  given  me  something.  Tlu 
woods  had  loaned  to  me  some  of  their  secret  craft  and 
the  lakes  and  rivers  had  yielded  experience  in  rowing 
paddling,  poling  and  sailing. 

T  was  somewhat  e(,uipp...|  for  work  in  the  wild  coun- 
try that  my  quest  was  partiallv  to  introduce  me  to  I 
had  walked  from  Lac  Vieux  Desert  to  Lake  Superior 
and  had  interested  :Milwaukee  acquaintances  in  .'.itering 
several  thousands  of  acres  of  copper  lands,  covered  with 
good  hardwood  and  scattering  pine  between  the  Black 
and  Presque  Isle  rivers.  On  that  cruise  I  had  a  pack 
of  eighty  pounds  and  wore  my  improper  footwear  down 
to  sore  and  bleeding  feet. 

The  geography  of  Echo  Lake  locates  that  beautiful 
mountain-shored  basin  in  Canada,  between  Sault  Ste 
Marie  and  the  mouth  of  St.  Mary's  Straits.     Its  inlet 


96 


THE  IROX  ilUXTKii 


••orr.fs  down  from  h^tmfu  tl...  (Jnrdon  and  the  Abiua- 
'  -M.K  „nd  Its  ...itlcf  d.l.on,l,r.  int„  Bi^  Ukv  (Jeorpc,  on 
tlH'  old  chann.-l  cast  of  S.i;r)ir  Island,  call..!  a  lonp  time 
ii;;o  St.  fJwr;r,.'s  [sl,„„|.      I  „.j„  i,„,r,„.t,.j  j,,  ^f„^,  -^ 

tluTf  and  follow  up  anv  l.-ads  I  might  pet  as  to  iron 
«'r.-  and  lik.l.v  formations.  \.,  railroad  reached  Sa.ilt 
Me.  Mi.ri...  To  reaeh  that  eia.ssic  town.  „lder  than 
l.vmonth  KVK'k  settlement,  one  took  Mapv  in  winter  and 
»oaf  in  summer.  It  was  to  me  a  f.assap'  into  paradi>e. 
I  liad  never  hreathed  sueh  air  nor  dnink  snch  water, 
i  lire  as  nature  was  tli<-  entire  Northland. 

At  Crystal  F.ills  I  }i,id  known  a  temperamental  piirrnv 
named  Fav  (J.  Clark,  who  was  k.u.wn  as  lia.-kettv  Clark 
l\V  his  woods  ae.|uaintances.  I  aske<l  a  Canadian 
trcneh  woodsman  one  dav  why  they  called  iiim  "  Ifack- 
<'tty,"  and  lie  knew: 

"Cause  .she  hant  pnk  rife  in  her  'ead,  mavhe." 
Raeketty  had  pine  into  the  Sault  country  the  year 
iK'fore  and  findinj;  that  nearly  eyery  Indian" had  speci- 
mens of  iron  ore  lie  .sent  out  wild  stories  that  were  taken 
hold  of  at  once  that  wildest  year.  He  wrote  interest- 
inj,'ly  and  convincingly  to  one  who  wished  to  be  con- 
vinced. 

T  .searched  him  out  and  found  him  the  evening  I  ar- 
rived at  the  Sault  eating  a  big  brook  trout  at  Mother 
Churchill's  restaurant.  He  told  me  at  once  ab«.ut  kill- 
ing the  trout  at  the  Little  Raj.ids  just  below  the  Sault. 
It  weighed  more  than  five  jMnitids  according  to  his  tell, 
and  he  could  not  decide  which  was  the  better;  such  a 
trout  or  the  iridescent,  sweet  and  hardmeated  w'hitefish, 
that  the  Indian  descendants  of  the  old  Bawittiwiniwags 
scooped  out  of  the  rapids. 

Xow  and  then  a  Inine  would  shuck  out  of  the  corner 
of  Hacketty's  mouth,  which  was  a  perfect  boning  ma- 


niK  TRACKLESS  WILr)S  OF  TAX  ADA     07 

cliino.  no  told  mo  much  about  the  Sanlt  bm  he  ate  and 
..N-:  .ilHMit  (ii/|„.  M.,„i,jo  ,„„|  u,nv  f|,;,t  I.MliHr,  .Irifv 
had  pursued  the  prro«t  beaver,  father  of  all  the  beavers 
hr«t  out  «.f  his  dam  at  the  Little  Hapids  and  then  out 
of  his  main  dam  at  the  big  Sault,  de«troving  them  par- 
tuiUy  and  thus  forming  St.  Mary's  Falls. 

When  he  finished  I  engaged  him  to  go  into  the  Cana- 
dian wilderness  with  me.  I  directed  him  procure  as 
j.'rK,d  an  Indian  as  he  could  find  and  one  just  as  old  as 
'0  could  be  and  handle  himself.  It  was  desirable  to 
Have  as  much  cumulative  redman  lore  as  one  individual 
could  hold. 

We  spent  the  entire  summer  along  the  massive  ranges 
that  he  between  the  Georgian  Ba.v  arm  of  Lake  Huron 
«nd  Batchcvanna  Bay,  Lake  Superior.  I  found  a 
strong  iron  formation  clear  across.  Now  and  then  it 
was  cut  off  by  extensive  igneous  flows.  It  was  easv  to 
•-mnect  rouffhiy  the  sedimentary  zones  containing  fer- 
ruginous quartzite,  marble,  limestone  and  porphvrv 
with  bojindanos  of  pegmatite,  panite  gneiss,  svenite, 
noritc,  diorite.  diabase,  basalt  and  other  fire  rocks 

Quite  often  we  found  good  float  ore,  mostly  a  serai- 
specular  hard  hematite.  I  thought  it  ought  to  outcrop, 
but  could  not  find  where.  Up  and  down  mountains 
tl.rnuch  swamps  of  spnice  and  tamarac,  along  stream 
valleys  and  around  lakes,  tramping  and  eating  our  gril- 
lades  and  galefte  as  we  drank  eopiouslv  of  bitter  boiled 
tea  we  spent  a  wonderful  season  until  the  snow  came 
and  drove  us  out,  because  one  cannot  prospect  the  sur- 
lace  when  the  snow  covers  everything. 

I  carried  a  pack  that  weighed  something  over  ninety 
pounds  at  the  start;  the  Indian's  weighed  exactlv  one 
iMindred  and  eight  pounds  and  Backettv's  sixtv-five 
p..unds.     We  used  from  Minabog's  first  because  it  was 


98 


THE  rnox  nrxTER 


Ji|-avio.t.     0„r  p.nc.k.  woro  not  baps  but  paok  sl.oots  of 

i;;o;;er.:;;:!:.-;.-^ 

J\o  oarrH.,1  r.o  tont.  so  that  we  could  increase  our  sun- 

m  ;  ..t  w;:ti  ;■  ^'""v^^"'-  -^  ^-^^n,  bn.k  Ld 

trcun..     ad  brook  trout.     We  cooked  the  fish  bv  run- 

.;  a  s  K.k  through  the  body  from  mouth  to  tail  and 

'-•"^'  .^   p.Tpendieuh,rly  before  the  tire,  ,.ivi„^  ft  a 

P»..ct.c.,lh  f,.|l  out  when  the  fish  was  opened. 

f-r  fru.t  we  had  nothing  except  a  few  winter^een 
jrr,es  t  .at  are  horribly  lackin,.  in  acid,  until  other  be" 
r.os  would  r,pen.     Then  our  craving  for  somethin  An^r 
won      be  satisfied  with  luscious  shadberries  and^b^^ 
"tn.^    >,„.,    ns   do    not    -rrow   elsewhere.     Sometimes 
V    m.xed  the  plentiful  Labrador  tea  flodum  pain  "eT 
H  th  our  tea  to  n.ake  it  .o  farther  and  once  a  week  we 
n  ade  tea  .f  the  tender  tips  of  the  spruce,  a  perf  ct 
ant.s.orbm,c.      Best  of  all,  late  in  the  'seaso.  w.^e  the 
M.    bus      eranberries    (viburnam    opulus   or   ,n,el  e 

At  ni.d.t  if  it  were  clear  we  would  not  bother  with  a 
c^vvern..  but  would  roll  up  in  our  blankets  and  perhaps 
pi    over  a  pack  s  ,.,,    an.ple  and   practically' wate'r- 

f   ed  .n  hot  pork  irrcase  makes  dou^h  aods  verv  accept- 
able to  woodsmen  when  eaten  hot.  but  deadlv  enough  to 


THE  TKACKLESS  WILUS  OF  CANADA     99 

any  one  not  living  in  the  open  and  not  working  hard. 
I  think  they  even  hurt  the  ironehid  eruiser  in  the  long 
run.  The  same  dough  baked  in  the  frying  pan  makes  a 
uouri.shing,  unleavened  galette. 

On  these  rat  ..ua  7  lived  for  many  years  during  the 
s(.'ason  between  the  going  and  the  coming  of  the  snow, 
one  year  walking  and  packing  two  thousand  two  hun- 
dred miles  and  several  times  exceeding  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  miles. 

The  most  interesting  particular  region  we  searched 
waa  the  valley  of  the  Abinadong,  a  tributary  of  the  hurt- 
ling Mississauga.  These  streams  on  the  Great  Lakes' 
side  of  the  height  of  land  are  wicked  in  their  fury  to 
get  d  vn  to  their  vent  and  their  erosive  power  is  enor- 
mous. They  rush  madly  through  the  firmest  dykes, 
cutting  contracted  canals,  forming  polished  gorges,  and 
forever  roaring  and  shouting  when  they  are  not  tickling 
pebbles  into  song  as  they  loiter  on  some  nearly  level 
stretch.  The  Mississauga  is  such  a  typical  river.  Not 
so  rough  in  its  moods  as  the  Abinadong.  Its  valley  is 
less  rocky.     There  are  sandy  savannas. 

Low,  elmwooded  islands  are  quite  numerous.  They 
possess  good  soil  and  vegetation  grows  lush.  Some- 
times braVes  as  high  as  one's  head  would  be  encoun- 
tered, ana  beds  of  delicate,  black-stalked  maiden  hair 
ferns  higher  than  our  knees.  In  June  the  banks  were 
lined  with  Indian  roses,  making  a  canoe  promenade  of 
pink.  A  little  later  these  were  succeeded  by  the  plenti- 
ful white  blossoms  of  the  northern  wild  clematis,  the 
fastest  growing  climl.ii'.jr  plant  in  this  region. 

Nowhere  before  or  since  have  T  seen  so  much  wild 
life.  ]\foose  would  stare  as  dully  at  one  as  oxen,  and 
red  deer  knew  no  fear.  Rabbits  and  squirrels  would 
play  about  our  feet  and  were  a  nuisance  because  thev 


100 


tup:  irox  huxter 


would  steal  our  doufrh  jjods  at  overv  camp.  Caribou 
were  not  rcallv  wild.  Wolvos  and  foxes  would  scuttle 
awav,  but  bears  showed  neither  sign  of  fear  nor  much 
concern  alwut  man  things. 

The  pilcated   woodpecker  was  our  barometer.     His 
rain  call  never  misses.     ()„,.(.  I  heard  a  pileatcd  w.M.d- 
pecker  and  a  raven  talking  to  one  another.      It  did  not 
take  much  imagination  to  conchide  that  thev  were  argu- 
ing about  the  weather.     Anyhow  the  pilcated  kept  on 
shrieking   his   raucous  zee  —  cruck.   zee  — cruck,   but 
the  raven  did  not  jr)in  in  until  a  day  later.      It  rained. 
The  pilcated  woodj)eckcr  is  the  wisest  bird  in  this 
part  of  the  world.     It  will  even  come  to  man  to  be 
saved.     .Justice  Sfeere,  of  the  :Michigan  Supreme  Court, 
relates  that  once  when  he  was  in  a  forest  a  large  hawk 
assailed  a  pileatcd  woodpecker.     The  bird  of  the  royal 
red  crest  flew  to  the  jurist  and  was  saved. 

Otter,  beaver,  mink,  marten  and  fisher  were  much 
more  numerous  along  the  Abinadong  than  is  usual.  It 
appeared  that  this  trancpiil  vallev  was  a  perfect  game 
sanctuary.  That  is  just  what  it  was.  I  had  much 
difficulty  in  inducing  MinalM)g  to  ascend  the  river  at  all. 
When  we  came  to  the  mouth  he  said,  "  Xo  co  up."  And 
he  stuck  to  it  until  I  threatened  to  desert  bim.  This 
brought  him  to  time  and  caused  him  to  tell  me  the  secret 
of  the  river. 

It  is  the  land  of  the  Windigo;  belongs  to  it  as  its 
home.  Xo  human  ever  trespasses.  Hundreds  of  vears 
ago,  according  to  tradition,  the  Ojibways  tried  repeat- 
edly to  trap  along  the  river.  Some  of' them  never  re- 
turned; others  came  back  and  were  mad  murderers  and 
cannibals  and  bad  t(»  be  kill-.'d  by  the  tribe.  Then  the 
Abinadong  was  given  over  to  the  ghosts  that  lived  along 
it.     Xo  Ojibway  can  tell  yon  just  what  a  Windigo  is. 


THE  TKACKLESS  WILDS  OF  CANADA     101 

.rolm  Tanner,  who  lived  with  them  thirty  years,  never 
found  out  exactly;  nor  did  fi  (•  ohserving  and  accurate 
Alexander  Henry,  nor  Schoolcraft, 

The  Windigo  is  not  the  devil  and  is  only  an  evil  spirit 
when  his  hunting  ground  is  invaded  or  he  is  molested  in 
some  other  way.     lie  luis  jwwer  to  turn  men  into  eaters 
of  human  flesh  and  is  quite  as  suhtle  as  the  werwulf  or 
the  loup  garou.     The  most  horrible  thing  he  does  is 
to  eat  away  the  l.ase  of  the  tongue  or  the  inside  of  the 
cyehiill  or  the  lining  of  the  upper  nose  and  inner  ear  to 
an  extent  not  to  he  fatal,  but  worse.     Amonjr  the  Chip- 
pewas  the  fear  of  the  Windigo  is  supreme.     That  is  why 
the  Abinadong  is  a  paradise  of  wilu  life  to  this  mc^ 
ment.     It  is  the  home  of  the  ghastly  Windico  and  I 
hope  It  will  be  forever,  because  I  imagine  the  whole 
tiling  IS  a  story  devised  by  the  wise  old  fathers  of  the 
redmen  so  that  a  place  would  he  preserved  where  game 
so  necessary  to  them,  might  propagate  in  perfect  safety.' 
White  men  ought  to  set  up  several  Windigo  places  as 
game  sanctuaries. 

I  reported  nothing  of  value  to  the  syndicate  that  em- 
ployed me.  It  was  a  disappointment.  It  seems  that 
I  was  expected  to  find  something  whether  there  was  any- 
thing or  not.  Such  was  the  speculative  excitement  that 
a  good  story  could  have  been  capitalized  to  big  advan- 
tiige.  Next  year  they  sent  in  another  pr  rson  who  sup- 
plied the  desired  report,  upon  which  more  than  a  quar- 
ter of  a  million  dollars  were  expended  and  lost. 


rnAPTKK  XI 

niARMKn   BY   THE    ItKAl'lY   ()|     SAILT   I)K   SAINTF  MARIE 

AM)    KASCINATKIi    MY    MS    K.WIK'O.NS    I    CHOOSE    IT 

AS    A    IIO.MK    |(»|{    LIKE 

TriK  Sault  couiitrv  fascinated  nie  as  it  had  many 
another  and  always  will  continue  to  do.  Mazy 
suniniers  of  life  and  pure  joy.  Winters  of  stiin- 
ulatinc  majesty  l»y  which  men.  women  and  children  are 
made  rohust  or  driven  away;  no  colorless  middle  ^'round. 
Mtl  Iloyt  had  recently  irraduated  from  the  University 
of  Wisconsin  as  a  lawyer,  hut  had  taken  up  newspaper 
work  and  was  already  compellincr.  Tlis  rapier  mind 
was  reaching  and  stroufr.  I  told  him  the  story  of  the 
north.  ITe  was  as  enthusiastic  as  Tom  ;Moore  was  when 
he  mused  the  Ryperhoreans.  .\nd  parenthetically 
Mooro  was  an  instinctive  poet.  He  only  knew  the 
Clreek  legend  of  the  peopled  north  and  was  not  aware 
that  moderns  have  proved  the  Xorth  Pole  to  have  been 
habitable,  and  not  unlikely  to  have  been  the  incunabu- 
Inm  of  the  human  race,  at  least  as  the  race  is  now  known, 
^fel  and  F  bought  the  SnuJl  Xeirs.  a  struggling, 
under-dog,  weekly  paper  in  1SS7.  J  lunJ  cnougli  money 
to  make  the  deal  a  cash  one  and  as  T  had  formed  the 
altadiment  for  my  partner  that  has  only  grown  richer 
between  us  all  our  lives,  it  was  a  keen  delight  to  carry 
him  for  his  share.  \\\>  went  at  the  thing  hammer  and 
tongs,  and  it  was  not  long  before  we  had  our  paper  on 
a  paying  basis  and  our  competitor  on  the  run.     The 

102 


A  HOME  FOR  LIFE 


103 


Sault  was  booming?.     Goose  pastures  were  lH'iii<r  sub- 
dividod.     The  whistle  of  the  work  train  on  the  eominp 
railroads  could  he  heard.     'i"he  trail  to  Hudson  Bay, 
which  had  been  one  of  the  passa^'cs  to  and  from  the  bi^' 
world,  would  be  sid(!-tracked.      French  habitants  wen; 
made  over  from  muskrat  hunters  to  millionaires  in  <i 
day,  in  their  minds.     Many  a  lu^ace  with  pink  body 
and  bhie  trimmiiifrs  was  started  and  some  were  built. 
An   artificial   atmosphere  contaminati-d  the  Northwest 
wind  for  a  while  and  then  blew  awav.  takim;  on  its 
winprs  some  of  the  adventurers  and  undesirables.     Good 
people  found  their  way  and  started  legitimately  to  build 
a  city  in  one  of  the  most  attractive  locations  on  earth. 

Our  ambitions  took  fire  with  the  others.  We  took 
in  Sandy  Dinirwall  as  a  third  partner  and  planned  as 
avidly  as  the  best  or  worst.  Sandy  had  been  a  clerk 
in  the  Wisconsin  Fire  and  :\rarine  Bank,  of  ^filwaukee, 
for  which  Georjre  Smith  laid  the  foundation  and  Alex- 
ander :^ritchelI.  David  Fercruson  and  .Tohn  Johnston 
erected  the  superstructure.  The  Xoitliwest  was  a  New 
Scotland  luitil  the  Germans  and  Scandinavians  came  to 
compete. 

The  Sault  grew  until  its  country  trousers  did  not 
reach  its  ankles.  It  had  to  have  a  new  suit  cut  bv  up- 
to-date  tailors.  That  meant  city  orjranization.  Wo 
were  tremendously  interested  and  took  a  very  active 
part.  There  were  ordinances  to  print  and  other  fat 
takes,  and  it  was  our  business  to  pet  them.  I  am  posi- 
tive that  not  one  of  us  had  an  ethical  thought.  We 
were  young  fellows  with  eager  hopes  and  no  tangible 
ideals.  My  own  boyhood  and  young  manhood  makes 
me  think  that  vital  youth  is  a  thinly  disguised  barba- 
rian, or  was  in  my  time. 

Election  day  came.     The  village  had  been  democratic 


104 


THK  IHON  IirXTER 


if  it  could  lie  s;ii(l  thiit  tliprc  were  partisun  conditions. 
Kciillv  the  'I'll  iiipcs,  or  the  I{_Viiii<  or  the  Hrowns,  or  an 
arranpcniciit  between  them,  usuiilly  rontrollod  things. 
A  short  time  before  they  hiid  heeii  shocked  hv  Charley 
Chapman,  a  newcomer,  who  ha<l  been  made  village  presi- 
dent without  asking  permission  of  the  old  repime.  In 
th(!  ancient  days  that  were  declinin<r  a  few  barrels  of 
pork  and  s<»nie  of  whiskey  carried  every  election. 

At  the  first  city  election  in  the  Saiilt  there  was  a 
crazy  ([uilt  of  corruption,  and  not  a  soul  raised  a  warn- 
ing or  even  an  objecting;  hand.  Political  morals  were 
as  unknown  as  if  the  country  had  never  been  discov- 
ered. I  saw  the  unclean  hand  unjrioved,  hard  and  Ixild. 
for  the  second  time.  Uncle  Ike  and  A.  C.  Brown  had 
exhibited  a  marked  refinement  compared  with  the  meth- 
ods in  the  Sault.  I  do  not  suppose  that  worse  ever  ex- 
isted —  the  darkest  practices  before  the  dawn  of  re- 
form. 

Political  lines  were  drawn  taut.  Otto  Fowle,  a 
banker,  had  been  nominated  for  Mayor  by  the  Repub- 
lican local  leaders,  amonj;  whom  William  Chandler, 
Joseph  II.  Steere,  George  Kemp  and  Charley  Spalding 
were  prominent.  There  was  no  clash  between  the  old 
and  the  new  among  the  Republicans.  The  Democrats 
were  not  so  lucky  apparently.  Billy  Cady.  also  a 
banker,  was  nominated  by  the  Democrats  controlled  by 
the  new  element. 

Iloyt,  Dingwall  and  I  were  as  busy  as  three  live 
young  fellows  could  be.  The  open  sewers  ran  whiskey, 
and  drunken  Indians  staggered  through  the  knee-deep 
spring  slush  in  all  directions.  It  miglit  have  been  safe 
for  a  woman  to  have  appeared  on  the  street,  but  not  one 
did.  By  ten  o'clock  we  discovered  that  the  Democrats 
were  paying  a  dollar  apiece  for  votes  in  addition  *o 


A  HOME  FOR  LIFE 


ior> 


ship,  the  ('iiiiadian   Sault  atul 
Mission  on  Waiskai  Hav  and  as  f 


free  whiskoy.     At  oncp  the  loaders  on  our  side  armed 
their  workers  with  a  fr<K.d  many  more  dollar  hills  than 
the  voting  iKipulation  of  the  town  numbered,  because  the 
otes  were  eomin^'  in  from  Sujrar  Island,  Sault  Town- 
even  from  the  Indian 
iir  as  Whitefish  Point. 
It  was  not  a  (juestion  of  morals  with  anvl)ody  conecrned  ; 
the  problem  to  Ik>  solved  was  whether  they  eoiild  pet  to 
this   purchasable  human   commodity  and   had   enough 
money  to  fret  it  away  from  the!  other  side.     Nobody  went 
into  an  alley  or  Wiind  a  barn  unless  it  was  to  keep  the 
other  side  from  penetratinfif  whatever  strategy  there  was. 
Fist  fiirhts  were  f,'oiiiff  on  all  day,  and  as  my  partners 
iind   I  rushed  from  one  polling;  place  to  another,  we 
eould  not  avoid  them  nor  did  we  try  to  do  so.     Finally 
the   day   wore   throuph.     Soon   the   polls   would   (ilose. 
The  fipht  was  furious.     At  the  Fourth  Ward  {)olls  oc- 
eurred  the  astounding  thinp  of  the  day,  even  as  I  now 
view  that  ollapodrida  of  strange  experiences,  proving 
that  a  condition  is  a  condition  and  that  morals  have  no 
stable  standards  and  are  really  a  matter  of  inner  growth. 
Very  evidently  the  leaders  had  either  no  inner  growth 
or  nothing  else  to  go  by,  and  everybody  else  was  in  the 
same  boat. 

About  ten  minutes  before  the  polls  closed,  a  thrifty 
oitizen  drove  up  with  a  team  liearing  twelve  drunken 
Indians,  an  even  dozen.  :Mike  O'Day  began  to  negoti- 
:!te  for  them  at  once  for  the  Democrats.  A  Republican 
jMished  h:ra  aside  and  they  roughed  it  a  little,  when, 
realizing  how  short  the  time  was  to  buy  those  votes  and 
'  '  t  them  in,  they  got  to  work  again.  It  be* -me  a  raair 
'I-  of  open  bidding  as  in  a  slave  mart  or  auction  of  any 
!  tiid.  I)(.llar  by  dollar  they  raised  each  other.  O'Day 
i  M  rwi'lve  dollars  a  head.     Both  leaders  knew  the  eleo- 


kh; 


TIIK  IKOX  nUXTER 


turn  WHS  floso.  The  lifpuMinui  raisod  liis  bid  to  four- 
f«'f-n  (I(.lliirs.  If  was  moro  tluiri  O'Dav  had.  Thr 
I )<'inofrats  wore  all  in.  Tin-  F^.'pnl.licnnsL'of  tlio  votos 
—  twclvo  — ('(.uiit  then  — at  fonrfcon  dollars  cafli, 
o|wMi  auotioii. 

Otto  Fowlc  was  elected  I'.v  seven  niajnritv. 

Will  yon  Miy  that  pnMie  morals  have  not  improved 
since  then  ^  Impn)ved  is  not  tneanirjrfnl  enon^ih. 
Ihere  has  Iieen  a  eomplete  transformation,  except  in 
eities  like  Detroit,  where  the  scH-alled  jrood  eitizen  is  too 
often  a  silk-stoekinir  dereliet  on  election  day.  And  mv 
morals  have  improved.  I  thondit  of  nothing  wronj; 
when  I  took  |)art  in  that  unelenn  election,  and  I  wish 
to  he  charitahle  with  those  who  may  not  have  had  a 
chiince  to  see  and  know  better  and  who  still  bi'sinirch 
the  ballot.  About  that  Sanit  eh'ction  even  the  preachers 
knew  everythinir  and  said  nothinir.  and  the  candidates 
were  honorable  men.  \,,t  u  word  was  said  before  or 
soon  after  about  the  influence  of  money  and  whiskey  and 
pork  and  their  use.  It  was  not  lon<r  before  the  scales 
fell  from  my  oyo^i  and  I  saw  the  lieinonsncss  of  it. 

To  atone  i-*  (.ne  of  the  reasons  I  have  foujrht  for  clean 
pr  litics  and  honest  irovernment  ever  since. 

A  number  (.f  candi(Iat(-s  appeared  for  the  Sault  post- 
ofjice  after  Cleveland's  defeat.  There  was  a  jrood  deal 
of  friction.  The  office  was  offered  to  me  as  a  compro- 
mise, but  T  declined.  TT'.wever,  while  T  was  upon  an 
expedition  in  the  woods  T  was  appointed.  About  the 
same  time  the  bu-^iness  bubble  luirst.  Hoyt,  Dinjrwall 
aiid  T  j(>fFed  to  see  who  would  ke(>p  the  SfiuJf  AVmx 
We  had  made  up  our  minds  that  there  was  not  room 
eiiouirh  for  thre<'  in  the  business.  :Mr.  IToyt  was  a 
stroiiff  man  and  until  very  lately  was  the  successful  ed- 
itor and  publisher  of  the  Milwaukee  Dnihj  News  and 


A  IIOMK  FOR  MFK 


107 


onr  of  the  nhio  men  nf  the  Nation.  Mr.  Dinpi-all  be- 
cartn'  a  tiiillionairo  plav  iiuinap>r  in  New  York,  of 
which  ho  fjavp  sijrns  wlicn  as  a  boy  ho  had  the  dramatic 
coluiiin  in  the  Milwunkre  SriUinel.  I  lost,  as  we 
thought,  as  it  fell  to  uic  to  keep  the  pap<T  and  ronuiin 
in  the  Sanit,  where  my  life  has  boon  so  satisfactory  and 
my  friendships  so  happy  amonj?  a  jK'opIo  with  no  sujkj- 
riors,  that  it  turned  out  that  I  woti  richly. 

Before  our  debacle  I  had  made  plans  for  systematic 
exploration  in  Canada  and  had  started  the  work.  To 
the  North  from  the  Sault  is  a  l)oautiful  sky  line  of  un- 
broken hills.  Sometimes  they  wear  a  rich  blue  haze. 
.\t  other  times  they  are  dressed  in  the  frf)rceous  reds  and 
^olds  of  autumn.  In  the  summer  those  hills  are  preen 
and  in  the  winter  pure  white.  They  are  the  oldest 
things  in  the  world  if  geolojrical  chronology  means  any- 
thing. Str«-tching  away  from  Capo  Canso  to  Queen 
Charlotte  Sound  without  a  fracture  they  are  more  the 
back  bone  of  the  North  American  continent  than  are  the 
K(K'kies.  Between  them  and  the  North  Pole  there  was 
nothing  of  man  in  those  days  and  there  is  not  much  yet. 

Behind  those  hills  lay  the  greatest  and  least  known 
wilderness  in  the  world.  It  drew  me  like  a  human 
loadstone. 

Something  lost  l)ehind  the  mountains;  "  lost  and  wait- 
ing for  you,  go  I  " 

If  I  had  not  gone  something  in  me  would  have  busted; 
now  I  don't  mean  burst  —  something  ruder  than  that. 
I  knew  that  such  little  exploration  as  had  heau  done 
followed  the  rivers.  Along  the  rivers  were  trails  and 
canoe  routes.  Fish  lived  in  the  waters ;  fur  lived  on  the 
fish  ;  Indians  subsisted  by  the  fish  and  fur,  and  the  Hud- 
son Bay  Company  exploited  the  Indians.  Hence  the 
one  way  of  things  along  the  streams.     Drainage  of  this 


108 


TIIK  IKON  IirXTKU 


hiilf  the  rontiriPiif  wiis  s.nitli  fnmi  flic  hoighf  of  Innd 
to  thf  hnsin  of  the  (innt  Lakes,  and  North  from  the 
same  ^rnit  divide  fo  IIii(Nuri  Hav  and  the  Aretie  Oconn. 
Almost  IK)  attention  had  Inen  ^i\•en  fo  minerals.  Pine 
was  vumlufi  in,  and  fnrs  had  U-vu  the  goMen  tl.'ooe  for 
t\V(»  centuries  and  fleeee   i-;  riyht. 

M.v  idea  was  to  rcndiict  rwonnoissancps  across  th«» 
eonntry.  This  meant  paekitijr  supplies  on  the  hack  al- 
most alto^'cthcr  and  hard  wcrk.  It  alsn  meant  seeing? 
countrv  that  even  the  Indians  had  not  seen.  I  was 
ea^'er  to  pa.v  the  toll.  It  was  something  of  the  spirit 
that  had  driven  and  coa.xed  my  ^'randfather  across  the 
Alle^henies. 

While  I  was  in  the  wilderness  the  SauU  A%'hvs  was 
expected  to  siihsist  m.v  fatnil.v.  It  was  my  permanent 
d<wk  wlu-re  I  tied  nj)  my  hope  of  sustenance  and  it  did 
not  fail.  ('riti<-al  conditions  arose;  most  of  thetn  dur- 
inir  my  four-year  term  as  postmaster.  As  I  anticipated 
would  he  the  case,  a  jrood  many  older  citizens  resented 
my  select i(.n.  I  was  too  new.  Then,  as  postmaster,  I 
was  consulted  hy  the  state  and  natiomil  party  machine. 
This  also  hroufrht  its  ccmfiicts  and  omharrassments  and 
comp<'lled  mo  to  attend  at  times  ver^\  closelv  *o  -.  •  knit- 
ting. 

Booms  hrinj:  to  to\nis  a  rejnilar  riffraff  of  things, 
more  good  than  had.  no  douht,  hut  it  takes  only  one 
rotten  ap})le  in  a  harrel  to  foul  all  the  rest,  and  a  whoh- 
harrel  of  good  apj)les  will  not  cure  a  rotten  one;  just 
got  to  throw  it  of.t.  [  undertook  the  throwing  out  game 
and  took  on  no  end  of  tough  enemies. 

Two  factions  fought  over  variant  plans  for  the  water 
power  development.  One  was  for  the  old  LaCrosse  and 
-Milwaukee  Cargill-Elliott  crowd  and  the  other  favorc  ! 
certain    big   promises   made    hy    Alexander    Ilamiltou 


1) 


lA:! 


.*^  • 


A  HOiJE  FOR  LIFE 


109 


<'V.ny,  for  an  nUv^vd  Knt'lish  syndicate.  The  enter- 
prising townspeople  had  already  jrone  d()\ni  into  their 
own  jwckets  for  a  bonus  of  one  hundred  thousand  dol- 
hirs  to  start  the  thing  and  they  were  pyrographically 
concerned. 

As  usual  in  such  things,  politics  poked  in  through  the 
doorway  of  a  desired  franchise.  I  took  sides  with  the 
tangible  proposition  made  by  Cargill  and  his  associ- 
ates. A  popular  local  manufacturer  named  Lewis  A. 
Hall,  of  Bay  :\rills,  ten  miles  up  the  shore,  became  in- 
terested. In  order  to  intluence  the  council,  ground  was 
broken  for  the  huge,  paper-making  plant,  which  after- 
wards became  the  Niagara  Pulp  &  Paper  Company  at 
Niagara  Falls. 

The  segregated  judgment  of  the  people  is  ever  a  prob- 
lem. In  sufficient  mass  with  ade(iuate  interest  involv- 
ing almost  life  or  death,  the  people  invariably  go  right; 
m  local  cases,  wherein  momentary  passion  obscures,  they 
are  just  as  apt  or  apti-r  to  go  wrong. 

After  a  bitter  recriminatory  contest  the  Sault  re- 
jected the  bird  in  the  hand  fur  one  that  was  said  to  be 
in  the  bush,  but  was  never  seen.  It  plunged  the  towTx 
into  commercial  gloom  sooner  or  later,  thus  compelling 
a  penance  of  years  for  the  mistake. 

During  this  fight  another  opposition  paper  was  es- 
tablished, making  three  in  the  field  —  too  many.  I  had 
been  roasted  until  I  was  getting  hardened  to  it,  and 
had  been  hung  and  burned  in  effigy-,  all  in  the  way  of 
supplying  me  with  experience  that  would  entitle  me 
some  day  to  join  the  veterans'  corps  of  those  who  become 
immune  to  such  shafts.  My  continual  war  against 
the  gamblers,  tough  saloons  and  West  End  prostitutes 
always  made  it  possible  for  my  enemies  to  mobilize  a 
■strong  force  against  luu.     At  least  once  they  started  to 


110 


THE  IROX  nUXTER 


marcL  to  my  home  to  mob  mc.  The  common  knowl- 
'-"d^o  that  I  had  a  half  a  dozen  rifles  and  could  and  prob- 
=<l»ly  would  shoot,  made  the  pui-  listen  to  thos(.  who 
advised  jr.vinfT  „„.  ,,  wide  herfh.  A  coterie  of  eiti/ens 
rrspectahle  enou-h  outwardly,  hut  uilliufj  to  lie  in  with' 
'he  worst  element  to  achieve  a  result,  or^ranized  for  the 
purpose  and  boasted  that  they  would  drive  me  out  of 
town. 

I  have  had  tw.,  such  fi-hts  in  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  run- 
ninp  over  several   years.      My  fn.pu-nt  absence   from 
hon...  seemed  to  make  it  ,  asier  for  mv  enemies  to  und.) 
"le.     Sometimes,  when  I  would  return  they  would  have 
a  warrant  awaiting  me  and  would  serve  it  on  a  Saturdav 
mght   so  as  to  keep  „„.   i„  j;,il   .,t  least  over  Sundav. 
Always   some  fr(.od   friend    would   find   out   their  plan 
and  w^uld  have  evervthin-  ready  to  circumvent  it  suc- 
cessfully.    The  favorite  charge  brought  against  me  was 
eriminal    hbel.      I   have  defended   nineteen   libel   suits 
and  have  been  successful  every  time,  because  I  tried  to 
he  in  the  right  and  was  able  to  assemble  a  sufficient  de- 
K'tise.     Even  now  I  cross  my  tingers  and  touch  wood 

Once  while  I  was  postmast.  my  enemies  charged  me 
with  overcharging  an  ignorant  foreigner  for  a  money 
order.  Inasmuch  as  I  had  never  issued  a  money  order 
m  my  life,  it  was  easy  to  disprove  this.  In  fact,  mv 
<'nemies  have  generally,  in  their  blind  bitterness,  over- 
done their  attacks. 

Such  a  life  of  civic  and  social  warfare  made  for  me 
many  golden  friends  as  well  as  unpleasant  enmities.  I 
learned  that  character  may  be  good  enough  to  be  malice 
and  slander  bomb  proof,  and  I  tried  to  build  such  a  one. 
If  you  don't  do  it  you  can't  be  caught,"  was  my 
motto.  "^ 


A  HOME  FOR  LIFE 


111 


That  was  a  selfish  thought  at  first  and  only  gave  way 
with  years  and  -Towth  to  my  guide  of  later  years : 

"  Kight  beca  ,-ie  of  Right." 

I  will  not  try  to  convey  the  impossible  idea  that  I  was 
iihvays  right,  because  I  was  not.  I  was  forever  doing 
something  and  I  made  mistakes,  but  I  never  committed 
another  criminal  act  after  the  Indian  vote  buying,  re- 
lated in  a  previous  chapter.  Perhaps  I  might  go  fur- 
ther and  state  that  I  have  always  tried  to  do  right  and 
hope  that  fifty-one  per  cent,  of  my  acts  liave  been  of  that 
character.  At  least  I  learned  that  life  cannot  be  a  bluff 
or  a  four  flush,  actions  must  square  with  words,  and 
habits  and  asswiations  must  harmonize  with  aspirations. 
The  hour  never  appealed  to  me  and  only  those  who  know 
me  least  would  designate  me  as  an  opportunist. 

My  Uncle  William  Osborn  was  one  of  the  best  men 
in  the  world.     He  said  to  me  once: 

"  Xephew,  where  does  the  trail  of  life  you  are  on 
lead  to  ?  Every  man's  life  is  a  trail ;  it  is  as  long  as  he 
lives.  There  are  many  blind  bypaths  leading  off. 
Some  of  them  go.  nowhere;  others  lead  to  quagmires  and 
pricipices.  The  chart  of  the  trail  is  the  bible;  the 
lights  on  the  way  arc  Christian  efforts.  If  you  get  off 
the  trail  go  back  to  the  last  point  you  were  certain  of 
and  start  again.  Don't  be  afraid  to  back  up  when  you 
are  wrong  and  don't  be  afraid  to  go  ahead  when  you 
are  right.  Carry  your  own  load  and  help  those  who  are 
not  as  strong  as  you  are  to  bear  their  burdens.  Show 
your  colors.  If  you  are  not  with  a  church  you  are 
against  it,  or  worse  yet,  an  agnostic,  living  in  the  twi- 
light zone  of  individual  cowardice.  The  average  trail 
is  three  score  and  ten  years  long.  Yours  and  every 
man's  will  land  him  safe  if  he  uses  his  conscience  as  a 


112 


THE  IRON  HUXTER 


guide  and  his  better  desires  as  a  staff.     Where  are  you 
going  '.a  fetch  up  at  seventy  {     Read  '  Pilin-im's  Pr 
ress.'  " 

My  uncle's  sermonette  made  the  deepest  impression 
on  me  of  any  advice  I  ever  received.  "  Where  are  you 
going  to  fetch  up  at  seventy  i  " 

Ho  the  halfwiiy  lionses  have  not  licld  me  verv  long 
and  the  jack  o'  lanterns  have  not  dangerously  enticed  me 
off  the  mam  trail  yet.  For  this  I  am  thankful  tr,  (Jod 
as  the  way  to  go  has  been  very  dim  at  times  and  hard 
to  follow,  and  there  have  been  rocks  i„  the  wav  and  I 
have  stumbled.  But  I  always  got  up,  put  mv  jaws  to- 
gether, smiled  to  myself  and  went  on.  If  J  w^re  asked 
the  secret  of  success  mid  happiness  1  would  say  applied 
energy  and  poised  growth. 


CHArTER  XII 


I  AM  usp:d  as  a  political  fulcrum  by  jay 

IfUBBELL    TO    PRY    OUT    SAM    8TKPHENSON 

OXE  day  William  Chandler,  of  the  Sault,  came 
into  my  office.     lie  loved  politics  and  no  sooner 
had  Joe  Sfeere  landed  in  the  Sault  to  recover 
friim  an  attack  of  Lenawee  enteric,  than  he  was  placed 
on  the  circuit  bench  to  succeed  Judge  Goodwin. 

The  Chandler  and  Oren  families  were  mixed  up  with 
mine  back  in  the  old  Ohio  days.  I  had  gone  to  school 
witli  Mrs.  Chandler  at  Purdue,  and  had  been  taught 
l)y  her  very  superior  mother,  ^ir.  Chandler  asked  me 
if  I  would  like  to  go  to  Congress.  I  was  only  a  little 
past  thirty  and  had  not  thought  of  any  office,  let  alone 
Congress.  I  had  been  in  so  many  fights  that  my  opin- 
ion was  that  I  could  not  have  been  elected  dog  catcher, 
and  I  told  Chandler  so.     He  scarcely  listened  to  me. 

Ours  was  the  twelfth  district.  It  had  been  formed 
geographically  in  various  ways.  Just  then  it  com- 
prised the  entire  Uppt?r  Peninsula  or  about  one-third  the 
area  of  the  entire  State,  divided  into  fifteen  counties, 
and  had  a  population  of  about  two  hundred  fifty  thou- 
sand. From  Canada  to  the  ifontreal  River  east  and 
west,  and  from  the  mouth  of  the  Menominee  to  Kewee- 
naw Point  north  and  south,  inclosed  a  formidable  re- 
gion. Its  interests  were  Iumb<'ring,  iron  ore  mining 
and  copper  mining.  Xow  agriculture,  then  just  begin- 
ning to  be  seriously  considered,  forms  an  important  pur- 
!  113 


114 


THE  IRON  nUXTER 


•suit,  with  prospects  of  ultimately  yielding  more  than 
all  the  others. 

There  were  lines  of  political  cleavage  between  the 
various  interests.     Sam  Stephenson,  of  ^[.■nominee,  was 
our  representative.     He  was  a  brother  of   Tncle  Ike, 
and  their  fraternal  ambitions  could  not  be  carried  in 
the  same  basket,  as  one  lived  in  :Michi,L'an  and  the  other 
m  Wisconsin,  separated  by  the  Menominee  River.     It 
was  good  for  them  to  be  so  near  together,  because  they 
each  nourished  a  proper  desire  not  to  be  outstripped  by 
the  other  and  they  could  keep  tab  on  each  other.     They 
were  wholesome  men  of  their  type  and  period.     Only 
one  way  was  there  to  get  anything  and  that  was  to  buy 
•t.     Hence  their  life  could  be  summed  up:  get  money 
and  buy  what  you  want.     They  were  honest  accordin'i; 
to  prevailiiig  standards,  generous  when  thev  could  see 
what  they  were  getting  for  their  giving,  profane  in  lan- 
guage, chin  likely  to  be  a  nicotine  delta,  canny  in  a 
trade,  forceful  in  business,  crude  and  rude  and  uncouth 
in  matters,  manners  and  education,  endued  with  homely 
horse  sense  and  enough  courage.     They  were  both  rich 
and  getting  richer  sawing  pine  lumWand  selling  it. 

I  have  never  been  able  to  determine  the  place  of  such 
men.  :Mostly  I  have  thought  they  performed  a  needful 
function  and  occupied  a  legitimate  sphere.  Thev  got 
their  timber  from  the  Government  directiv  or  otherwise 
at  small  cost,  almost  nothing.  They  cut  it  ruthlessly 
and  the  waste  was  scattered  everywhere  they  lumbered, 
and  allowed  to  burn  and  destroy  great,  uncut  forests' 
and  even  villages  and  lives,  as  "witness  Peshtigo  and 
many  other  places. 

There  was  a  need  for  economical  house  material  all 
over  the  growing  nation.  It  was  thus  adequately  sup- 
plied.    One  cannot  have  his  cake  and  eat  it  ton  •  nor  can 


A  POLITICAL  FULCRUM 


115 


he  have  trees  and  wheat  in  the  same  field.  Greater  care 
and  selectiou  in  lumbering'  would  have  increased  the 
cost  of  home  building  during  a  critical  period,  and 
would  have  delayed  farm  development.  Consequently, 
I  do  not  join  with  those  who  curse  the  Stephensons  and 
their  congeners. 

Sam  Stephenson  had  just  bought  a  seat  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  just  a^:  he  would  purchase  a  plug  of 
tobacco  or  a  l)ottle  of  bone  liniment.  It  did  not  mat- 
ter to  him  whether  Henry  W,  Seymour,  of  the  Sault, 
had  occupied  it  only  a  brief  few  mouths  since  the  un- 
timely death  of  Representative  Seth  :Moffatt,  of  Trav- 
erse City.  It  just  "  belonged  to  the  feller  that  could 
git  it,"  was  the  way  Sam  sized  it  up,  so  he  turned  his 
labial  nozzle  on  Mr.  Seymour  and  injected  a  stream 
of  tobacco  juice  in  his  eye,  after  the  manner  of  squids. 
When  that  benign  gentleman  got  through  rubbing  his 
eyes  he  could  not  find  his  seat  in  Congress.  It  was  not 
a  gentlemanly  thing  to  do  perhaps,  but  Sawlog  Sam  got 
what  he  was  after,  which  is  the  object  in  life  a  great 
many  have. 

Xow  it  appears  that  Mr.  Sevmour  got  in  because  Mr. 
Chandler  and  other  friends  were  able  to  tie  the  tails  of 
the  copper  and  iron  and  sawlog  cats  together,  and  throw 
them  over  the  district  political  clothesline.  Down  in 
Chippewa  County  we  were  in  the  minority  and  ilocked 
with  nobody.  Our  only  hope  was  in  a  «,rap  by  the 
others.  . 

Jay  Hubbell,  of  Houghton,  who  was  called  "  Two 
per  cent,"  because  of  his  dextrous  assessment  of  post- 
masters for  campaign  purposes  while  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  and  chairman  of  the  Congressional 
Campaign  Committee,  hated  Sam  Stephenson  plenty. 
I  do  not  know  the  origin  of  the  feud,  or  whether  it  ex- 


116 


TIIK  IRON   irrWTEK 


U'lidcd  hcvoiid  political  iMnuidarics  or  not.  HuI)1m'1I 
Wiis  a  strung'  niati,  ('(Incatcd  as  a  lawyer,  resourceful  and 
the  foxiest  politician  in  the  district. 

I  did  not  know  that  he  had  ever  heard  my  name. 
Hut  he  had,  and  just  as  liorsenien  have  their  eve  out  for 
likelv  colts,  he  liad  his  at  the  political  periscope.  Down 
he  came  to  the  Sanit  and  deposited  a  hiiir  in  Mr,  Chan- 
dler's ear,  where  it  was  to  ahide  until  it  could  b<'  trans- 
ferred to  mine.  J  wore  no  ear  laps  in  the  summer  and 
they  ^rot  ine. 

;^^r.  Iluhhell  had  no  use  for  me.  He  did  not  tell  me 
so;  nor  did  he  exactly  tell  Chandler  that  he  had  not. 
But  he  was  not  delicate  ahout  admitting  to  the  latter 
wliat  he  kept  from  me,  and  that  was  his  master  hunger 
just  tlien  was  to  beat  Sam  Stephenson.  The  scheme  was 
to  have  favorite  sons  in  enouirh  counties  to  split  things 
up,  and  thus  make  Stephenson's  reiiomination  im{x»ssi- 
ble.  I  wii  to  carry  my  home  county  of  ('hip|)ewa  and 
possibly  [Mackinac  and  Luce,  and  even  nn"glit  keep  things 
stirred  up  in  Schoolcraft.  Carl  Sheldon  was  brought 
out  in  Houghton  County.  Jolm  Q.  Adams,  of  Xegau- 
nee,  and  Colonel  C.  Y.  Osburn,  of  Marquette,  were  can- 
didates in  ^larcjuette,  the  lieart  of  the  iron  region. 

Trouble  enough  1  made  for  all  hands.  I  did  not 
know  that  my  part  was  to  bo  only  that  of  a  tool.  So  I 
went  at  the  thing  slambang.  1  was  familiar  with  the 
campaigns  of  Henry  Chv  and  Abraham  Lincoln. 
Their  districts  were  not  wilder  nor  larger  than  the  one 
J  had  to  eover.  In  fact,  bears  and  wolves  and  wildcats 
were  thicker  in  our  part  of  Michigan  than  they  were  in 
Kentucky  in  Henry  Clay's  time.  Schoolhouses  were  as 
tar  apart.  Trusty  rifles  hung  on  many-pointed  antlers, 
and  there  were  thousands  of  Indians  who  only  went  on 
wliiskey  \v:tr  ]»aths. 


A  POLITICAL  FULCKUM 


11' 


^  I  (Ictciriiinod  to  canipai-rn  ovcry  school  district  in  tlu 
Tppor  Peninsula.  How  cisc  could  1  win  without 
money  to  hny  my  way  f  It  was  the  tirst  campuipi  of 
the  kind  ever  conducted  in  this  way  in  our  part  of  the 
State.  My  kno\vled,<re  of  huntinj^^nd  woodcraft  and 
my  hte  on  the  ^lencjniinee  range  gave  me  certain  advan- 
tag.'s,  and  I  niad<'  the  most  of  them  I  couhl. 

Quite  (|uickly  my  candidature  deveIo{x'd  from  an  in- 
••id<'nt  to  a  menace.     At  tirst  Uncle  Sam  gave  no  sign 
f>f  knowing  of  it ;  then  he  roundly  haw-hawed  and  then 
ho  sent  out  agents  and  money  in  plenty  to  head  me  off. 
I  really  liked  the  people,  especially  those  in  remote  set- 
tlements, and  some  of  them  liked  me.     The  old  system 
ohtained.     Caucuses  hegan  to  he  held  and  I  was  suc- 
cessful in  more  townships  and  counties  than  anybody 
had   estimated.     Sometimes   when   our   side   won,   the 
more  bitter  and  resourceful  would  send  contesting  dele- 
gations.    Ihis  was  particularly  true  in  Delta  and  Iron 
counties.     Every   political    trick   known,    running  the 
gamut  of  money,  bulldozing,  cajolery,  lying  and  prom- 
ises, was  resorted  to.     Our  side  might  have  been  aa 
guilty  as  the  other  if  we  had  been  supplied  with  the 
.same  weapons.     We  did  not  use  money  because  we  had 
none  to  use. 

Jay  Hubbell  and  his  schemes  were  lost  sight  of  in  the 
curiosity  that  was  arou<.  1  by  the  queer  campaign  I  was 
making.  I  walked  and  worked  night  and  day,  attended 
socials  in  churches  for  which  Uncle  Sam  had  donated 
the  principal  part  of  the  building  fund ;  went  to  coun- 
try dances  and  called  at  hundreds  of  houses  where  a 
candidate  had  never  been  bt'fore.  Came  the  Congres- 
sional Convention.  It  was  held  at  Ironwood,  a  victory 
for  me  because  Gogebic  County  was  for  me  and  the 
local  atmosphere  would  be  favorable.     1   had  carried, 


118 


THK  IKOX  IirXTEU 


or  Hinrncd  to  hnvo  rarrifd,  vlpht  of  tho  fiftoon  counties 
and  had  tliat  many  d.-i.-^uions  on  hand.     That  did  not 

pn-i'  uw  a  majority  1 ausc  fhc  lariror  ootintics,  such  as 

Ilou^ditors  Afanincttc  an<l  ^f.-nominoc,  wore  against  mo 
and   had  .'an.lichitcs  of  their  own.      It  was  whilo  the 
convention   was  hcintf  -.rfranizcd  that  I  discovered  the 
real   part  tiiat   I   had   heen  expected  to  phiv.      The  old 
Wsses,   si.ch   as    Ilnhhell,    I),„H.an,    Parnell,   Maithand, 
V\ alters  and  others,  were  wiHin^'  f(.  Iwat  Fnch"  Samuel, 
hut  they  did  not  want  me  hy  a  jnirful.      In  fact,  if  it 
came  to  a  show  down  hetween  Stepjienson  and  me   thev 
would  have  iw-cn  for  ^rrutf  old   Tncle  Sawlo^.  who  at 
worst  was  one  of  them  in  hviu<r  a  j)art  of  the  "  inter- 
ests," only  then  they  did   not  call  them  that.     1   had 
more  votes  than  any  other  candidate  and  was  permitted 
fo  orfjanize  the  convention,  or  at  least  to  think  that  I  did. 
Votinj;  started.     One-  I  came  within  fotir  of  the  nomi- 
nation.    That  was  my  hijrh  water  mark. 

Report  was  nnuh-  to  my  floor  managers  that  John. 
I'nncan,  of  Ilou^diton,  really  preferred  Tncl,.  Sam  to 
Carl  Sheldon,  their  home  candidate.      In  fact,  the  fifrht 
was  not  the  field  ajrainst  Stephenson  anv  more  than  it 
was  the  field  against  me.     T  was  consulted  and  decided 
that  the  Duncan  report  hore  earmarks  of  truth       We 
threw  my  support  solidly  to  Sheldon,  and  he  was  chosen 
I  had  gone  into  the  hall  at  the  rear  and  stood  behind 
Sheldon,  who  was  seated  in  a  chair.     When  the  lid  blew 
off,  as  Sheldon  was  nominated,  I  gave  a  big,  bursting 
boyish  yell  of  victory  and  grabbed  Sheldon's  hat,  as  I 
thought.     Waving  it  in  the  air  I  somehow  got  sight  of 
It.     Not  a  hat  at  all.  but  a  wig.     His  toupee  had  burst 
Its  shoe  wax  moorings.     Snatched  as  baldheaded  as  a 
billiard  ball,  there  he  sat  in  a  gold-mouthed,  glowering 
rage,  caring  nothing  about  his  honor  and  onlv  scckin- 


A  POLITICAL  FULCRUM 


119 


flio  return  (.f  his  thatch,  which  I  had  waved  aloft  like 
the  huniier  of  the  Ix-ard  of  the  prophet  at  (ioek  Tv\)fv. 

We  had  nominated  a  man  not  only  with  solid  pold 
teeth,  like  the  Sultan  of  Jnhore,  though  not  set  with  dia- 
monds, hut  one  who  wore  a  wig.  I  was  rosponsihie  for 
this.     Would  the  common  peoph-  stand  for  it  i 

Our  district  was  as  strongly  Repuhlican  as  though  it 
had  lucn  politically  i)oek-marked.  There  was  no  douht 
of  Sheldoji's  electi(m  if  he  could  he  kept  at  home.  He 
was.  Ir  transpired  that  he  had  no  such  native  ahility 
as  Stephenson  and  was  not  as  effective  as  a  representa- 
tive. 

As  for  myself,  I  heeame  a  political  factor,  not  hy  vir- 
ttie  of  either  nmhition  or  design,  hut  only  U'cause  I  al- 
ways went  with  all  my  might  at  whatever  my  hands 
found  to  do,  and  this  had  not  been  an  exception. 

There  are  no  bitternesses  quite  efpuil  to  local  ones,  no 
matter  whether  political,  religious  or  of  other  kinds. 
They  come  near  to  one;  there  is  immediate  friction 
'  hich  is  aggravated  by  being  seen  as  well  as  felt.  The 
source  is  always  within  striking  distance  and  that  makes 
for  frequent  striking  and  multiplied  inflammation. 
One  has  to  learn  to  joust  and  like  it;  to  hit  hard  and 
also  take  blows  and  to  discharge  the  whole  matter  as 
soon  as  it  is  over.  Not  adopting  such  a  philosophy  the 
participant  is  either  knocked  down  and  thrown  into  the 
discard,  or  is  made  into  a  grouch,  whose  very  temper 
becomes  his  undoing.  "Be  just  as  good  an  anvil  as 
you  are  a  hammer,"  was  the  tabloided  advice  given  to 
me  when  a  boy,  by  a  veteran  of  many  a  battle,  who  had 
not  a  mean  wrinkle  in  his  heart  and  then  of  course  not 
in  his  face. 

It  was  a  good  thing  for  me  that  I  learned  this,  because 
I  have  been  pounded  incessantly  from  youth  until  the 


i« 


IJIt 


TIIK   lUOX   III'XTKIi 


piv^fiif.  nil.)  rciillv  I  tliiiik  I  liiiv*'  im|)r(»v('d  all  the  time 
ill  cvcrv  Wiiy.  Wliijc  Iciuini.'  iiif  vcrv  far  from  the 
tiiiattiiiiijihj..  on  ..;irf|i  jr.,al  of  human  perfeotion,  1  have 
fiijnycd  {,'oiijg  uu  thr  wav. 


CIIAI'TKR  XIII 


THE    HACRIKKK    OK    «.K.\H(A|,    AI.iiKK    TO    APPEASE 
i'OMTK  .\I,    IlI.ooK    iioWLKKti 


T 


HK    IIis|)imo-Aiii(ric!iti    War    liri)k<'.     I 


was   in 


I' 


>|)aiM  wlicii  fiK-  Mmiii'  \\ii>  Iduwii  lip,  l'r(M'('c_ 
iiij?  almost  dircctk  tn  K^ypt  I  ftMiud  tlicrc  .Folin 
Hay  and  Dr.  .laiiu-s  15.  .\ii-<li.  1  was  not  of  their 
party,  hut  went  to  DaiiiaxMis  af  the  same  tiiiii'  tliat  tlicy 
"lid  and  also  up  the  .\il...  When  I  rctiiriu'd  to  Cairo 
I  found  a  letter  from  (Icneral  .Mir,.,-  askiiij;  me  to  re- 
turn homo  and  on  the  way  fo  ohtain,  if  possible,  certain 
information  in  Italy,  France,  Spain,  (Jermany  and  par- 
ticularly in  England.  Our  (Jovernment  had  reports 
from  its  officials  upon  phases  of  «-onditions  in  those  coun- 
tries and  wished  the  views  of  others  and  facts  they  might 
pathor  to  use  in  checking  up. 

I  found  everywhere  I  went  in  Italy  a  profound  and 
natural  sympathy  for  Spain.  In  (Jerniany  1  found  the 
people  and  many  officials  friendly  to  the  Tiiited  States. 
In  Si)ain  I  was  to  ascertain  what  might  Ik-  their  ability 
to  sustain  the  war,  and  reported  great  internal  weakness, 
both  of  physical  power  and  j)olitical  harmony.  Her 
colonies  had  drained  Spain  of  her  honor  and  her  .young 
manhood  until  to  lose  them  was  welcomed.  Their  gov- 
ernment had  been  used  as  a  means  to  political  debt  pay- 
ing, and  the  feeling  was  that  nobody  higher  up  went  to 
the  colonies  except  to  feather  his  nest. 

1  did  witness  a  funny  incident  in  Huelva. 


121 


Btory 


122 


THE  IROX  IirXTER 


teller  xvas  enWrhunmp  a  bin:  crowd  talking  ahout  the 
wiir  Ifo  told  tl.rm  that  America  was  al)ont  the  size  of 
Andalusia  and  that  t},e  people  were  all  shopkeepers; 
rieh  dishonest,  cowardly  and  soft-handed.  One  biff 
warship  they  J.ad.  he  said,  and  upon  it  thev  would  sail 
forth  to  battle  with  the  Spanish  navy.  I„'  j„st  a  little 
bit  their  blood  would  flow  like  the  juice  of  a  enmhed 
grape,  and  the  war  would  l)e  over,  and  Spain  would  have 
America  in  her  possession  again  as  she  did  before  it 
was  stolen  from  her.  The  crowd  cheered  this  recital 
with  sharpened  screams. 

My  surprise  was  complete  in  England.  So  far  as  I 
eould  determine  the  government  was  diplomatically 
friendly,  but  the  people  sympathized  with  Spain  I 
talked  with  hundreds  of  them  of  all  strata.  We  had 
no  friends  among  them  so  far  as  I  could  find.  On  the 
i!.nglish  steamer,  upon  which  I  returned  to  America  I 
canvassed  every  passenger  and  did  not  find  one  friend 
Ihey  hoped  the  Yankees'  swelled  heads  would  be  re- 
duced and  freely  predicted  final  victory  on  the  sea  for 
the  Spaniards. 

Proceeding  at  once  to  Lansing  I  offered  mv  services 
to  Governor  Pingree.  He  tendered  me  comm'issions  at 
three  different  times  and  on  one  occasion  he  was  sun- 
ported  by  General  E.  M.  Irish  in  urging  me  to  accept  I 
had  received  some  military  training  in  the  College  Ca- 
dets at  Purdue  under  Dr.  Harvey  W.  Wilev.  as  captain 
and  I  was  eager  to  go  to  war.  Just  as  I  was  about  to 
accept  a  commission,  William  Jennings  Brvan  became 
a  colonel.  Thereupon  several  of  my  friends,  who  bv 
ridicule  and  otherwise  had  l)een  endeavoring  to  dissuade 
me  from  going,  remarked  with  disgust  that  every  cheap 
politician  in  the  country  was  grandstanding  the  war. 
Somehow  or  o'her  thnt  sl-ot  struck  home:  not  that  I 


SACRIFICE  OF  GEXERAL  ALGER     123 

thought  of  Mr.  Bryan  as  a  cheap  politician,  but  I  knew 
the  place  offered  to  me  was  earnestly  sought  by  several 
better  equipped  than  I  was,  and  it  began  to  imi)rcss  me. 
So  I  refused  the  commission,  but  offered  to  enlist  as  a 
private.  The  Governor,  who  was  a  practical  soldier, 
told  me  the  time  might  come  when  I  could  do  that  with 
propriety,  but  that  just  now  I  could  render  better  serv- 
ice at  home.  As  a  result,  I  became  active  in  organiz- 
ing and  assisted  in  raising  two  companies,  the  officers 
of  which  the  Governor  consulted  with  me  about  before 
he  named  them. 

Quickly  the  war  was  over.     There  had  not  been  a  bat- 
tle severe  enough  to  attract  public  attention  from  the 
minor  discomforts  of  war:  sickness  in  camp  and  quality 
of  food.     Some  one  found  a  can  of  Chicago  corned  beef 
that  emitted  gas  when  it  was  punctured  for  opening.     It 
was  one  of  the  few  cans  that  did  not  stand  the  sub- 
tropics.     A  round  robin  was  hatched  in  Cuba.     Once 
started  there  was  an  epidemic  of  criticism.     There  had 
to  be  a  scapegoat  of  the  administration.     General  Alger, 
of  Michigan,  was  Secretary  of  War.     He  was  a  Civil 
War  veteran  with   a   brilliant  record,  had   subscril)ed 
thousands  to  the  McKinley  campaign  fund  when  Mark 
Ilanna  was  raising  it,  and  was  really  possessed  of  solid 
ability  and  sound  sense.     Although  he  wrought  himself 
into  a  sick  bed  and  continued  to  work  when  unfit  and 
endangering  his  life  as  much  as  upon  a  battlefield,  the 
storm   settled   upon   him.     Every   result  of  the  ante- 
bellum carelessness,  inefficiency,  insufficiency  and  unpre- 
paredness  was  charged  up  to  him. 

One  day  soon  after  the  last  private  staggered  off  the 
transports  at  Montauk  Point,  I  received  a  telegram  from 
the  Secretary  of  War  asking  me  to  come  to  Patterson, 
Xew  Jersey,  where  hv;  was  to  spend  a  week-end  at  the 


124 


THE  IKOX  IirXTER 


home  of  Vioo-Prpsi.k'iit  ITobart.     I  proceeded  there  at 
once.     General  Henry  M.  Duffield,  of  Detroit,  had  been 
summoned  also.     He  was  not  only  a  friend  but  an  inti- 
mate political  adviser  of  General  Alger,  and  a  depend- 
able, influential  and  intellectual  gentleman.     It  did  not 
take  us  long  to  ascertain  that  Prosident  McKinlev  had 
yielded  to  the  pressure  and  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
dump  his  Secretary  of  War  as  a  sacrifice.     He  had 
asked  Vice-President  Hobart  to  break  the  news  to  Gen- 
eral Alger,  and  that  was  the  object  of  the  week-end  con- 
ference.    When  Hobart  told  Secretary  Alger  the  lay 
of  the  land,  the  General's  care  at  losing  his  place  in  the 
cabinet  was  as  nothing  comi)ared  with  his  personal  dis- 
appointment in  :NreKinley.     It  was  the  only  time  I  ever 
heard  General  Alger  swear  and  it  was  rather  pleasant 
to  listen  to  him  as  he  relieved  his  feelings. 

"  Why,  it  was  as  late  as  Thursday  that  the  President 
put  his  arms  around  me  and  told  me  not  to  pav  anv 
attention  to  the  attacks  of  the  press,"  he  said,  sadlv  and 
bitterly. 

Continuing,  General  Alger  said  the  President  told 
him  of  his  confidence  and  admiration. 

"When  I  offered  to  resign,  which  I  did  in  good 
heart,"  said  Secretary  Alger,  "  the  President  would  not 
hear  of  it,  and  professed  to  be  pained  and  embarrassed 
by  the  idea  and  asked  me  as  a  favor  to  say  no  more  about 
it  and  not  to  think  of  leaving  the  cabinet." 

Vice-President  Hobart  told  me  that  the  President 
had  made  up  his  mind  some  time  before  that  lie  would 
have  to  feed  General  Alger  to  the  elamorers,  egged  on 
in  doing  so  by  Senator  Hanna  and  all  the  administra- 
tion advisers,  but  that  it  was  only  on  the  previous  Thurs- 
day that  he  had  asked  Hobart  to  get  Alger  out  sm(K)thlv 
—  the  same  day  the  Pn-sident  had  caressingly  assured 


SACRIFICE  OF  GENERAL  ALGER     125 

tlie  General  <if  his  confidence,  afFcetion  and  support. 
Of  eonrse,  Vice-rrcsidcnt  Ilohart  told  General  Alger 
all  the  facts.  It  made  him  so  anjrrv  that  he  decided  not 
to  resifj:n,  hut  instead  to  make  all  the  tronhle  he  could, 
(ieneral  Duffield  and  I  permitted  time  enough  to  elapse 
to  cool  General  Alger's  fighting  blood,  and  then  we  ad- 
vised him  to  resign,  and  to  return  to  Michigan  where  the 
people  loved  him  and  trusted  him,  and  we  predicted  that 
they  would  vindicate  him  bv  sending  him  to  the  United 
States  Senate.  Always  amenable  to  reason,  General 
Alger  looked  at  the  matter  as  we  did  and  decided  to  re- 
sign. 

I  asked  him  what,  in  his  opinion,  caused  the  bitter 
attacks  of  the  Xew  York  papers  to  center  upon  himself, 
when  the  editors  certainly  possessed  the  knowledge  that 
Ik;  was  not  to  blame  for  the  natural  hurts  of  years  of 
loose  departmental  administration,  and  poverty  of  imag- 
ination and  anticipation.  General  Alger  replied  that 
he  was  certain  about  what  caused  it.  Bids  for  trans- 
l)orting  to  Spain  the  Spanish  soldiers  captured  during 
the  war  were  asked  for.  The  shipping  trusts  submitted 
exorbitant  figures.  A  Spanish  steamship  company  pro- 
posed to  do  the  job  for  much  less  and  got  the  contract, 
in  spite  of  threats  made  by  the  robbers.  Thereupon 
certain  of  the  Xew  York  press  discovered  that  General 
Alger  could  not  be  controlled  and  at  the  same  time  de- 
cided that  he  was  not  competent,  and  would  have  to  go. 
It  was  the  McKinley  campaign  fund  talking  and  its 
speech  was  effective.  Xor  did  it  matter  whether  such  a 
trifling  thing  occurred  as  the  destruction  of  a  man's 
reputation. 

Upon  my  return  to  Michigan  I  saw  Governor  Pin- 
gree  and  Secretary  Stone  and  others,  and  arrangements 
were  begim  for  the  big  homecoming  reception  of  Gen- 


126 


THE  IRON  HUNTER 


oral  Alger,  that  was  soon  piven  to  him  bv  Detroit. 
-Nothing  could  have  been  easier.  General  Alger  was 
Michigan's  most  loved  citizen.  Thev  sensed  the  un- 
justness  of  his  treatment  and  resented,' as  a  quicklv  gen- 
erous people  would  do. 

Then  followed  the  working  out  of  the  plans  to  send 
Oeneral  Alger  to  the  Senate.     He  sent  for  me  and  re- 
quested me  to  be  his  campaign  manager.     There  were 
many  reasons  why  I  could  not  do  so;  chiefly  I  knew 
that  It  would  be  necessary  to  use  all  the  Pingi-ee  organ- 
ization that  existed,  and  I  did  not  control  it.     General 
Alger  would  not  hear  to  my  objections,     l^lv  appeal 
was  then  to  Henry  B.  Ledyard.     \viien  I  told  Mr  Led- 
yard  my  reasons,  and  informed  him  that  in  mv  opinion 
\\  illiam  Judson.  of  Washtenaw,  would  be  the'best  man 
that  could  be  obtained,  he  agreed  with  me,  and  got  Gen- 
eral  Alger   to  consent.     Judson   conducted   a   shrewd 
campaign  against  the  :\IcMillan-Ferrv  combination  and 
was  able  to  defeat  D.  AI.  Ferry,  though  not  easily 


CHAPTER  XIV 

MY  ASSOCIATION   WITH    HAZEN  8.    PIXGHEE   PLUNGES  ME 
INTO    POLITICS    DEEPEE    THAN    EVEB 

IT  was  the  age  superlative  of  riding  on  people's  necks. 
The  strong  rode  the  shoulders  of  the  weak  night 
and  day,  and  the  rich  seemed  only  to  regard  the 
})oor  as  beasts  of  burden.  Nor  did  it  matter,  as  in  mule 
packing  and  horse  use,  whether  the  collar  galled,  or  the 
girth  fit,  or  the  saddle  was  on  right,  or  the  pack  was 
properly  cinched  or  whether  the  work  animals  were 
properly  watered  and  fed  or  given  rest  or  taken  to  a 
blacksmith  or  veterinary  or  turned  out  to  pasture. 
They  just  threw  the  diamond  hitch  on  man  and  never 
took  off  the  load.  There  were  more  men  than  mules, 
and  they  were  easier  to  get;  the  supply  was  unending. 
Social  reformers  were  anarchists.  A  disciple  of  Karl 
^rarx  and  Rudolph  Engels  was  crazy.  Any  one  who 
agreed  with  Henry  George  was  a  moron.  Herr  Most 
and  Emma  Goldman  should  be  hung. 

Nevertheless,  things  could  not  always  go  on  as  they 
were.  No  thought  to  speak  of  had  been  even  given  to 
the  idea  that  the  despotism  of  wealth  should  ever  he 
benevolent.  God  works  in  a  mysterious  way ;  vesterday, 
to-day,  forever.  Man  with  brief  authority  and  enlarged 
stomach,  containing  all  the  coarser  passions  and  desires, 
has  deluded  himself  with  the  conceit  that  he  was  doing 
things,  when  all  the  time  he  was  contributing  to  the 

127 


128 


TIIK  IKOX  IIUXTER 


plan  of  Providnico.  [Man  has  exactly  the  same  relation- 
ship to  the  vast  thir-  defined  as  Universal  life,  as  the 
inicroseopic  cells  ,.f  th<>  human  bodv  have  to  the  life  of 
that  l)odv.     II,.  is  n  inicnwosm  of  tiie  maeroeosm. 

He  is  a  cell  and  his  intracellular  and  intercellular 
activities  eiiuse  him  only  to  he  conscious  of  action. 
'I  here  is  no  such  thiiifr  as  inertia  or  he  would  know  that. 
There  is  n()  such  thinj;  even  as  physical  death:  it  is  only 
disinte^rration  in  order  that  more  perfect  reinte;;ration 
may  occur.  How  wondrous  th(>  periodic  law,  the  ele- 
ments of  .Arendeleeff,  the  triads  of  Dohereiner  and  the 
octaves  of  Xewlands  —  husiness  of  the  three  entities: 
matter,  enerfry  and  ether,  and  husiness  goinp  on  all  the 
time  and,  aided  by  oppression  and  repression  making 
for  localized  tower,  men  popped  up  evervwhere  who  rep- 
resented s(.iiieiliiM,ir  that  just  would  not 'be  poohed  aside 
and  so  had  to  be  reckoned  with. 

Ilazen  S.  Pingree  was  one  of  this  sort.  ITe  was  an 
extraordinary  onlinary  man.  Out  of  the  Green  Moun- 
tains he  came,  a  shoemaker.  Grandfather  in  Revolu- 
tionary War,  father  in  Mexican  War,  and  he  a  private 
in  the  Civil  War.  Fighters.  In  I)etn,it  he  liecame 
quite  rich  manufacturing  shoes.  They  ran  him  for 
mayor.  Xo  one  knew  him  as  a  great  humanist ;  he  did 
not  even  know  it  himself.  Elder  Blades  told  him  alxnit 
It,  and  John  Atkinson  told  him  more.  Gharlev  Joslyn 
was  one  of  his  young  adherents  who  showed  svmptoms 
of  humanity  that  might  develop,  if  he  were  permitted  to 
run  free  and  unhaltered. 

Wlien  Filigree  began  to  find  out  h-^w  things  were  in  a 
social  and  political  way,  he  began  to  raise  the  dickens. 
This  marked  him  as  a  troublemaker  and  undesirable  by 
the  machine.  James  [NfcMillan  was  a  United  States 
Senator  of  [Michigan,  and  chairman  of  the  Republican 


HAZEX  S.  PIXGREE 


129 


State  Central  Committee.     lie  was  a  rich,  Scotch  Ca- 
nadian, whose  money  had  been  gleaned  from  public  land 
grants,   and   playing  th»j   gar.ie  as  hont'stly  as   it   w.is 
played  in  that  time  by  the  big  fellows  and  those  who 
parroted  them.     Anything  was  legitimate  during  that 
eptx'h,  that  would  not  land  a  man  in  the  penitentiary, 
and  the  function  of  lawyers  was  to  steer  their  clients 
so  that  they  could  do  business  and  keep  out  of  jail  — 
hut  do  business.     Senator  Stockhridge  had  died  in  office 
with  the  peaceful  consciousness  that  he  had  had  Schuyler 
Olds  pay  for  all  he  got.     John  Patton  had  k-en  "^ap- 
pointed by  good  Governor  Rich  to  the  vacancy,  and, 
iK'ing  ill  advance  of  his  time  in  morals  and  ethics,  he  had 
to  be  displaced,  because  his  fellow  .-itizen,  Blodgett.  a 
lumber  king,  decided  to  buy  the  plac:  for  Julius  C.  Bur- 
rows.    The    railroads,    and    principally    the    specially 
chartered  Michigan  Central,  at  the  head  of  which,  under 
the   Vanderbilts,   was  the  master  mind  of  Henry   B. 
Ledyard,  exercised  a  large  ywlitical   influence  iii   the 
State,  often  secondary,  however,  to  the  McMillan  in- 
fluence.    Mr.    Ledyard   and    ^fr.    [NfcMillan    were   too 
strong  individually,  and  had  too  many  clashing  inter- 
ests, always  to  work  in  harmony. 

General  Russell  A.  Alger,  with  a  disposition  as  sweet 
as  a  good  woman's,  brave  when  he  knew  where  and 
how  to  strike,  cherishing  a  high  desire  to  W  right  and 
do  right,  clean  as  a  man  could  be  and  be  in  big  busi- 
ness in  those  days,  was  a  friend  and  ally  of  Ledyard 
and  also  was  Tom  Piatt's  agent  in  Michigan. 

This  is  a  partial  mirror  of  political  conditions  when 
Ilazen  S.  Pingree  l)egan  to  horn  down  the  shelves  of  the 
china  shop.  There  had  not  k-en  a  big  man  in  the  pub- 
lic life  of  Michigan  since  the  passing  of  Zach  Chandler. 
Big  occasions  make  big  men ;  just  mean  money  grab- 


130 


THE  IROX  HUNTER 


bing  does  no       TIh-  Pin^eo  crowd,  and  it  was  as  crazv 
a  crowd  finally  of  .rres,K,n.sibl,.s  as  over  was  permitted 
to  fja  her  around  a  man  whose  jrreatest  weakness  was  his 
inah.hty  to  judj^e  men,  eould  not  work  with  any  ex- 
Htent  ,K.l.t.cal  entity.     So  it  worked  alone.     PiUee 
wished  to  be  governor.     It  was  natural  for  a  lofof 
reasons  that  he  should.     Many  of  the  sycophants  nearest 
to  hun  wanted  to  use  him  as  such.     Others  who  Wieved 
in  h.m  were  certain  he  had  a  mission.     Such  modernists 
as  C  ai.ta,n  Gray,  of  Glasgow,  and  William  T.  Stead 
.purred  h,m  honestly.     And  the  "  Old  Man  »  himself 
Had  his  hghtiuff  blood  at  boiling  point 

Every  newspap,  r  in  Detroit  was  against  him.  He 
bad  to  put  up  bull,.t.ns  in  the  city  hall  in  order  to  se- 
o..re  any  k„.d  of  publicity.  Xot  one  of  the  papers  could 
Ix.  .  Kluced  to  mention  him  for  governor.     Among  the 

^rt  pT.TV'^''  ''  '•^"'-"-ke  or  crazv.     Al- 
ber    1  ack  tmally   u.ed  up  with  him.     Pack  was  to  sue- 

out  nght.     P.ngree  started  on  a  tour  of  the  State  with 

Pn-.^;.  ^Tf  T'  ^^'^^'^^^■'•'  ''  ^^"'•de"  of  Marquette 
1  r  son,  shot  off  some  fingers  of  Uolzhay,  the  Gogebic 
bandit.     \  ery  few  outside  of  Detroit  had  anv  crvstal- 
hzed   convictions  al>out   the   man.     Perry  Power's,   of 
Cadi  lac    while  president  of  the  Michigan  Press  Asso- 
ciation, had  made  a  fight  for  my  appointment  as  state 
K<'"U'  and  fish  warden  by  Governor  Rich,  which  I  had 
clinched  by  waylaying  the  Governor  k^tween  three  and 
four  odK.c  one   morning.     This  had   introduced  me 
n  to  state  politics.     Consequently  I  knew  Mayor  Pin- 
Kree.  and  I  had  some  idea  of  what  he  was  up  against 
^Uen  he  came  to  the  Sault  to  see  me  I  at  once  enlisted 
u.  cause,  and  agreed  to  bring  him  out  for  governor 
"1  the  ^«u/.'  .\nrs,  which  I  did.     It  took  some  scoring 


HAZEX  S.  PLVGREE 


131 


but  he  finally  won.  I  was  continued  in  the  office  I  held ; 
in  fact  my  term  was  for  four  years,  and  I  had  two  more 
to  serve  when  Governor  Pingree  was  inaugurated.  He 
began  many  refornjs  and  had  a  knock  down  and  drag 
uut  tight  every  minute  with  the  legislature,  while  it  was 
in  session.  The  notorious  "  Immortal  Nineteen  "  lined 
up  against  him  in  the  senate  and  headed  him  of!  at 
every  turn. 

So  it  went  for  two  years.  When  he  came  up  for  re- 
'ininination  we  hoiH-d  to  get  him  through  on  a  truce. 
I  rospeets  were  not  g(X)d.  I  went  to  Washington  and 
bad  a  number  of  sessions  about  the  matter  with  Senator 
McMillan,  during  which  I  made  the  discovery  that  there 
was  no  reason  to  be  afraid  of  a  United  States  Senator; 
that  even  the  strongest  of  them  are  not  supermen. 

Decision  was  made  that  Governor  Pingree  had  so 
intrenched  himself  that  he  could  not  be  successfully 
opposed  without  more  of  a  fight  than  was  worth  while. 
I  had  a  good  many  reasons  for  desiring  to  be  a  factor 
111  the  second  Pingree  convention.  Principally  I  de- 
sired to  secure  the  nomination  of  Horace  :Nr.  Oren,  of 
my  home  town,  for  attorney  general.  The  idea  was  put 
into  my  head  by  Fred  A.  Alaynard,  whose  time  had  come 
to  retire  from  that  office,  which  he  had  ably  filled. 
There  was  no  fight  on  Pingree,  but  there  was  plentv  of 
opposition  to  everybody  else. 

1  succeeded  in  organizing  and  controlling  the  conven- 
tion, and  our  slate  went  through,  of  course  including 
Oren.  I  did  not  know  then  that  the  attorney  general 
has  a  fat  lot  of  state  law  business  to  give  out,  with  the 
consent  of  the  Governor.  It  was,  and  still  can  be,  one 
of  the  most  productive  sources  of  graft. 

Eh  Sutton,  a  son-in-law  of  Governor  Pingree,  seemed 
to  have  his  car  and  his  confidence  to  a  greater  extent 


132 


THE  IKOX  HUNTER 


n  vMv  ...  Othors  of  tho  kitchon  rahinet  wore 
H  llJudscn,  of  VVasl.f..„«w,  Svhrant  Wesselius,  John 
Atkinson,  Arthur  Jfarsh  and  Tharh-y  Joslvn.  Now  and 
then  On-n  and  I  wonld  ho  invited  to  tho  «  meotinps," 

m  J    """:    ""*  ,^^'""    ''^'''    '■"^'^   ^^♦^    '"'>^'-   circle. 
fh^nuVr    ''"^'"•'•""•^*'  t»"'.v  wero  poing  to  "  bunk  " 
he  Old  Man  or  do  some  dirty  work,  I  do  not  know,  hut 
thoy  were  earefnl.     Personally,  I  do  not  think  a  single 
one  of  the  jntunates  of  Governor  Pin|rree  was  dishonest 
intentionally      Some  of  them  had  supported  him   on 
principle  and   others,   who   were  outside  the  political 
breastworks,  picked  him  as  a  hundred  to  one  shot.     The 
kitchen  cabinet  was  in  disagreement.     Wesselius  seemed 
to  lead  one  wing  and  Eli  S  tton  the  other.     Sutton 
won  out. 

Wesselius  was  commissioner  of  railroads;  a  hi-  able 
unpoised  man.     To  my  surprise-  that  place,  abo'ut  the 
best  ,n  the  gift  of  the  Governor,  was  offered  to  me      I 
did  not  want  it      But  i  had  come  to  know  and  love  and 
trus    General  Alger.     So  I  asked  his  advice.     Ho  was 
emphatic  in  telling  me  to  take  it.     There  was  some  de- 
Jay,  not  serious,  in  my  confirmation.     Then  the  office 
was  tiirned  over  to  me.     When  I  walked  through  the 
door  I  thought  that  alx^ut  all  the  equipment  I  had  for 
the  job  was  acquired  when  I  was  one  of  the  Chicago  & 
Northwestern   con^structioi.  gang.     ]Mr.   Wesselius  and 
his  friend,  Fred  Britton,  one  of  the  best  of  Michigan 
newspaper  men,  were  the  only  occupants  of  the  ofhce 
and  I  was  alone,  so  simple  may  be  the  investiture  of 
authority      Some  commonplaces  were  exchanged  during 
wh.oh  I  observed  that  I  hoped  to  administer  the  office  in 
the  interests  of  all  the  people,  but  with  no  unfairness  or 
inju.^iee  to  the  railroads,  whercMpon  Wessolius  snorted: 
^  oung  feller,  you  pray  to  God  and  ask  him  to  look 


HAZEX  S.  PIXGREE  i.{;{ 

out  for  .you  and  the  people;  the  railroads  will  look  out 
M>r  tlicinselves." 

Xow  I  WHS  commissioner  of  railroads  of  the  State  of 
^ficlii^'an.  wifh  more  authority,  positive  and  negative, 
it  exercised,  than  any  one  man  shotild  ever  have. 

As  long  as  I  occupied  the  office  Governor  Pingreo 
never  crossed  its  f'lreshold.     He  sent  for  me  tlie  first 
<liiy  and  told  me  that  he  had  promised  that  Senator 
Frank  Westover,  of  Hay  City,  an  able  num.  should  Ini 
iipfM)infed  deputy  commissioner.     That  was  exactlv  the 
time  for  a  show  down  as  to  whether  I  was  commissioner 
of  railroads  or  a  dtimmy  for  the  Governor,  or  much 
worse  perhaps,  for  some  of  his  advisers.     I  told  him 
that  I  did  not  know  Mr.  Westover,  that  I  had  nothing 
against  him,  that  I  did  not  wish  to  thwart  him  as  gov- 
ernor and  even  would  help  him  carry  out  his  promises 
w.  en  I  could  adjust  actions  to  public  interests.     Then 
I  told  him  f  would  resign,  that  there  would  be  no  feel- 
ing and  that  he  could  app<Mnt  Mr.  Westover  as  com- 
missioner. 

Secretly  I  think  he  liked  my  straight  talk  and  re- 
spected me,  but  outwardly  he  sniffed  and  snuffed  air 
through  one  side  of  his  nose,  and  we  never  became  inti- 
mate. I  did  not  know  then,  nor  until  long  afterwards, 
that  I  had  been  appointed  really  k'cause  General  Alger 
had  asked  Governor  Pingree  to  do  so,  and  Mr.  Ledvard 
had  asked  General  Alger.  Xot  another  request 'was 
made  of  me  by  the  Governor,  nor  did  General  Alger  or 
Mr.  Ledyard  ever  ask  a  favor  that  had  any  bearing  on 
my  official  acts. 

Governor  Pingree  had  Ralph  Stone  as  private  sec- 
retary. Then  the  position  of  secretary  carried  the  title 
of  major.  He  was  even  then,  though  a  young  man,  pos- 
sessed  of   superior   attainments   of  heart   and   mind. 


UrM 


134 


TIIK  IROX   IirXTKR 


Whilo  with   ,Ih.   Mi,.|.,>„n   Tn.st  Company  nt  OrHnd 
Jdtpids.  Major  Stonr  ac.,„ir.>(l  valnahlr  hnsinoss  oxi)ori- 
enoo  to  snppL.MK.nf  his  Hctuh'tuw  h,w  training  at  tho 
Univors.ty  of  Afichi^ran.     At  the  'V«rsitv  lu-  had  brrn 
aM  indcpc'iHh.rit  a,.d  a   loador  an.onp  the-  "  non-frats  " 
Ihis  was  duo  to  a  d,.q,Iv  set  h.unanitv,  prohahlv  in- 
herited from  a  sei.sifiv.ly  orpmm.^d  father,  who  at  that 
time  was  a  Tnitarian  preaeher  in   Xew  Jersey      Be- 
tween Major  Stone  and  the  pt.rely  ,K)lifieaI  erowd  there 
was  always  frietion.     The  seeretar.y  was  eonsfant  in  his 
endeavors  to  proteet  his  ehi.-f  from  the  wolves.     M..re 
than  onee  he  tore  up  wild  speeeh  manuseripts  that  had 
been  supphed  the  -overnor.  and  wrote  addresses  to  re- 
place them.     Very  m.ieh  cn-dit  for  the  many  eonerete 
achievements  of  Governor  l>i,„.ree's  adminisirntir.n  Ik- 
ongs  to  Ralph  Stone.      I  always  fo„„d  it  a  satisfaetion 
to  coop^.rate  with  him,  and  early  I  was  impressed  with 
his  clean  and  clear  and  courageous  thought  prcH-esses 
his  poise  and  g.v,d  judgment,  and  his  .-ommon  sense 
and  kindliness.     He  had  d.rply  at  heart  th,.  welfare  of 
the  masses  with  no  desire  to  make  politi<.al  capital  of 
his  sentiments      And  yot,  when  he  sought  employment 
after  leaving  the  executive  offiee,  he  f„„nd  that  c:apital 
regarded  him  as  a  dangerous  so,.ialist,  if  not  an  an- 
archist.    This  made  his  ladder  climb  to  the  presidency 
of  the  Detroit  Trust  Company  a  trial  of  his  manhood 
and  principles.     Ralph   Stone  was  one  of  the  first  to 
demonstrate   the   reasonable   and    human   tendency   in 
modern  business. 

Governor  Pingree  made  enemies  in  phalanxes.  Thev 
dogged  him  everywhere,  as  always  is  the  case  when  men 
m  public  or  private  who  are  worth  while,  assail  the 
established  order,  no  matter  how  bad  the  established 
order  may   be.     Pingree   fought   back   bravely.     The 


IIAZKN  S.  PIXGKEK  135 

iMroii  Frrp  /Ws,s.  wh'wh  lias  had  u  historv  of  lualig- 
iiancv  unsurpassed  siiirf  the  dav.s  it  hounded  Lineoln, 
and  was  the  nrpiii  in  Loudon  of  the  rcl)cl  Kuiphts  of  the 
(Jolden  (^ireh..  set  its  spies  on  his  traek  and  after  all  of 
th«.se  who  were  a  part  of  his  adnnnistration. 

As  is  often  the  ease,  internal  conditions  proved  fatal 
•hen  external  attacks  are  easily  resisted.  There  was 
er«)okedness  in  the  Governor's  official  family.  Probably 
the  acts  were  not  more  dishonest  than  manv  past  pra^ 
tic<-s,  hut  always  higher  standards  are  being  erected  by 
which  public  acts  are  judged,  and  no  one  had  done  more 
than  Governor  Pingree  to  improve  conditions  in  this 
resj)ect. 

One  evening  I  received  a  hasty  summons  to  come  to 
the  Kxecutive  Chambers.  Assembled  was  every  friend 
of  the  administration  that  could  be  reached.  The  mil- 
itary scandals  had  been  unearthed.  Then  (jccurred  a 
demonstration  of  the  wonderful,  though  blind,  personal 
loyalty  of  Governor  Pingree.  He  would  not  believe  a 
single  charge  made.  It  was  the  work  of  his  personal 
enemies  who,  because  they  could  not  "  get  the  old  man," 
were  determined  to  ruin  any  or  all  who  were  his  friends. 
And  in  this  view  he  persisted  to  the  last,  finally  pardon- 
ing those  who  pleaded  guilty  so  as  to  give  him  an  op- 
portunity to  do  so,  rather  than  to  trust  their  fate  to  a 
succeeding  governor. 

While  the  grand  jury  was  in  session,  nearly  all  the 
Governor's  apiHiintive  heads  of  departments  took  to  the 
woods.  No  one  molested  me,  because  there  was  nothing 
that  could  be  tortured  into  a  dereliction.  They  hounded 
me  though,  and  I  enjoyed  it,  because  I  have  never 
feared  that  a  clear  case  could  be  made  out  against  a 
man  unless  he  had  left  himself  open  somewhere,  either 
by  carelessness  or  dishonesty.     In  every  way  I  had 


136 


THE  IROX  nUXTER 


taken  my  public  work  seriously  and  had  ti :.  '  .,    • ,  more 
than  the  law  ro,,uired  me  to  do.     It  was  not  enouj^h  for 
me  to  do  what  the  law  spoeified.     I  tried  to  earrv  out 
anytlun^  and  everything  within  my  power  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  pnhlie,  that  the  law  did  not  forhid.     Very 
ittle  time  elapsed  before  T  discovered  that  the  strong 
have  a  way  of  sendin-  special  representativ(.s  to  a  state 
oap.tol   and  that  the  wr   k  and  unorira„ized  are  not  rep- 
resented at  all,  unless  public  officials  c.nstitute  of  them- 
selves tl.e.r  especial  ^n.ardians.     That  was  mv  view  of 
pnbhc  duty.  - 

One  of  the  first  things  I  had  to  decide  was  whether 
J   would  accept  pass.-s  and  permit  my  subordinates  to 
use  them  also.     T„  the  past  it  had  been  the  i>ractice  of 
al    public  officials  1  knew  anything  about,  who  could 
get  passes,  to  take  them,  use  them  and  charge  up  their 
railroad  fare  to  the  State  just  as  though  thev  had  paid 
It.      i  liere  was  no  commoner  graft,  and  while  pettv  in 
otic,  ,t  amounted  to  a  big  total  when  all  did  it.     There 
«^.s  no  law  then  against  accepting  a  pass  on  anvthing. 
it  was  easy  to  determine  that  the  passes  were  sent  to  me 
as  eomm.ssioner  of  railroads,  and  not  personallv.     So 
to  each  ra.lroad  and  other  transportation  company  that 
sent  a  pass,  I  wrote  the  following: 

"  Rec(>ived   as  a  courtesy  extended  to  the  State  of 
:\lic{iigan,  to  1h'  used  as  such." 

And  of  course  I  did  not  charge,  or  permit  to  be 
charged  by  subordinates,  to  the  State,  any  railroad  fares, 
llie  saving  thus  made  was  considerable  in  four  years 
but  ,t  was  much  greater  "n  principle,  because  it  was  an 
index  of  that  nght  performance,  which  made  it  im- 
possible for  the  many  who  subsequentlv  delved  into  mv 
record  to  "get  anything  on  me." 


CHAPTER  XV 

I     HKCOME    A    CAM)I1)ATK     K>I{    (JOVERNOE    TO    STTOCEED 
HAZEX    8.    I'lNHREE 

AS  tlie  Pingroe  sorond  term  waned  the  question  of 
a  successor  to  him  be^jan  to  seize  all  concerned. 
The    political    pendulum   Iiad   been   pushed   by 
(.overnor  Pin-ree  as  far  as  it  would  go  in  the  reform 
direction  and  was  already  starting  on  a  reverse  oscil- 
liition.     The  :NrcMillan  machine  liad  received  a  jolt  that 
made  ,t  rickety.     The  railroads,  between  which  and  the 
McMillan  bund  there  had  been  a  partial  truce,  always 
suftcient  in  effect  before  the  election  of  Governor  Pin- 
gree  to  protect  ♦'e  transportation  interests  in  the  legis- 
lature and  conti   .  the  appointment  of  the  railroad  com- 
missioner, had  been   badly   ^haken  up.     At  the  same 
time,  the  Pingree  organization  had  been  flawed  by  the 
state  militia  exposures.     It  is  always  the  case  that  "polit- 
ical chaos  produces  numerous  candidates.     The  mixed 
conditions  during  the  last  year  of  the  second  term  of 
Governor  Pingree  did  not  prove  an  exception  to  this. 
J  robably  the  ^fcMillan  machine  showed  the  most  vi- 
tality and  best  chesiveness.     Whilo  it  failed  to  lK>at 
Alger  with   Ferry  it  easily  defeated  Alln-rt  Pack  for 
I  lilted  States  Senator  with  .Tulins  Caesar  Burrows. 

Senator  Stockbridire.  who  died  in  office,  was  succeeded 
by  John  Patton,  of  Grand  Rapids.  Governor  Rich 
«ffen  showed  signs  of  independetice,  and  this  appoint- 
ment of  ^fr.  Patton  was  an  instance.     When  the  brief 

137 


138 


THE  IRON  HUNTER 


term  served  by  Senator  Patton  expired,  his  place  was 
taken  by  J.  C.  Burrows,  of  Kalamazoo.     This  result 
was  a  perfect  mirror  of  existing  political  conditions. 
John  I'atton  was  a  citizen  of  unusual  strength.     He  was 
a  lawyer,  a  man  of  culture  and  force,  independent  and 
courageous,  desired  only  the  best  and  acted  upon  wril 
considered   convictions.     Naturally,   he   could   not   be 
handled  w.Ily  nilly.     The  politicians  and  interests  had 
no  manner  of  use  for  him  because  thev  could  not  vise 
him.     Politics  appeared  to  be  a  question  of  profit  of 
some  kind  for  nearly  everylK)dy.     Some  one  more  bid- 
able  than  John  Patton   was  wanted   in   the  national 
.Vnate.     Mr.  Burrows,  then  for  some  time  in  the  House 
of  Representatives,   was  selected  as  the  man.     Delos 
Blodgett,  a  wealthy  lumberman  of  Grand  Rapids,  for- 
got the  amenities  that  are  supposed  to  subsist  In'tween 
follow  citizens,  in  the  desire  that  submerged  him  to 
have  some  one  who  would  vote  right  on  the  luml)er 
anff  and  other  things.     Mr.  Blodgett  sought  and  ob- 
tained the  McMillan  vehicle,  which  was  not  difficult 
because  James  McMillan,  the  senior  senator,  did  not 
look  pleasantly  upon  a  junior  senator  of  superior  cul- 
ture, who  would  not  play  se<-ond  fiddle  to  him.     The 
machine  worked  so  well  that  Mr.  Patton  got  the  guil- 
lotine expeditiously.     It  worked  quite  as  well  against 
Albert  Pack,  who  had  lined  up  with  the  Pingree  forces 
and  tried  with  their  aid  to  l)eat  Senator  Burrows,  after 
his  hrst  term.     I  had  impotently  supported  l)oth  Patton 
and  Pack. 

With  these  scalps  in  their  belt  the  McMillaniVs  quite 
confidently  trotted  out  1).  :^^.  FerrA-.  of  Detroit,  as  a 
successor  to  Pingree.  Aaron  T.  Bliss,  of  Saginaw,  had 
the  Alger-Ledyard  railroad  support.  T  was  oflFered  the 
support  of  one  wing  of  the  Pingree  following,  including 


A  CANDIDATE  FOR  GOVERNOR       139 

that  of  Justus  S.  Stearns,  of  Ludin^on,  then  secre- 
tary of  state.  It  was  not  lonp  after  he  had  urped  me 
to  become  a  candidate  for  frovornor  and  had  pledj^ed 
his  support  to  me,  before  lie  decided,  as  was  his  ridit 
that  he  would  be  a  candidate  himself.  This  was  the 
result  of  influence  upon  him  by  the  Pinjrree  winjr  that 
was  not  for  me.  It  was  the  mcrcenarv  panp,  and  was 
stronger  than  the  other  following.  Xevertheless,  inas- 
much as  I  had  made  my  announcement,  I  stuck  to  my 
colors.  "^ 

James  O'Donnoll,  of  Jackson,  a  newspaper  man  of 
standing  and  ability,  who  had  In-en  in  the  house  of  rep- 
resentatives and  also  had  been  a  candidate  for  governor 
several  times  before,  announced  himself. 

Lastly,  the  commissioner  of  insurance  under  Gov- 
ernor Pingree,  Milo  I).  Campbell,  of  Coldwater,  be- 
came a  candidate.  This  made  six  candidates  for  gov- 
ernor to  succeed  Pingree.  Three  of  them,  Bliss,  Ferry 
and  Stearns  were  bv  reputation  inultiinillionaires. 
The  other  three,  0'D..nnell,  Campbell  and  mvself  were 
comparatively  poor  men.  I  wa>  youuirest  of  all  and, 
as  I  view  things  now,  I  was  not  qualitied  to  be  governor,' 
alth-iigh  I  am,  even  after  si.xteen  vears,  unconvinced 
that  I  was  not  as  well  e<iuipi.H.d  as  any  of  the  others, 
which  IS  not  an  immodest  tribute  to  mvself. 

There  ensued  the  wildest  use  of  monev  in  politics 
that  had  ever  occurred  in  the  State.  Such  a  fight  as 
lerry.  Bliss  and  Stearns  put  up  had  never  been  wit- 
nessod  iK-fore.  The  serpent  of  corruption  made  a  slimv 
trail  all  over  the  State,  and  del)auched  and.  debauchers 
could  be  tracked  by  the  spoor  of  dollnrs.  When  tlie 
thing  got  hot,  delegates  were  offered  three  thousand 
dollars  for  a  single  vote,  and  perhaps  more.  Friends 
of  mine  witnessed  an  offer  of  two  thousand,  five  hundred 


140 


THE  IKON  IIUXTEK 


dollars  to  a  delegate  favorable  to  me,  and  saw  him 
refuse  m  anger.  That  honest  man  is  Oilman  M.  Dame 
since  then  for  a  time  chairman  of  the  Republican  state 
ctiitral  committee  of  Michigan.  That  act  explains  the 
origin  of  my  friendship  for  him  that  began  then  and 
has  subsisted  without  a  break  to  the  present  time. 

I  made  a  red-hot  personal  canvass  as  far  and  as  fast 
as  I  could  go.     With  no  money  to  spend  I  was  not 
tempted  to  spend  any.     O'Donnell  and  Campbell  were 
in  the  same  moneyless  boat  so  far  as  concerned  ability 
to  compete  with  Ferry,  Bliss  and  Stearns.     Mv  stock 
in  trade  was  my  political  and  administrative  record  up 
to  date.     As  state  game  and  hsh  warden  I  had  done  my 
l)est  at  every  turn  and  had  reallv  gotten  results.     As 
commissioner  of  railroads  I  had  enforced  twoHient  pas- 
senger fare  laws  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the 
State;  had  clung  to  a  i)olicy  of  grade  separation  con- 
sistently and  doggedly,  only  to  see  it  die  when  1  went 
out  of  office  and  remain  unresurvected  to  this  time  — 
and  had  done  all  the  law  required  and  quite  a  good 
deal  more. 

My  grade  separation  work  had  just  been  tragically 
emphasized  by  an  accident  at  Flint,  in  which  Major 
Buckingham,  .Mrs.  Applegate  and  Mrs.  Ilumphrev  had 
been  killed.  Application  had  been  made  for  a  certain 
grade  crossing  at  Flint.  The  hearing  was  attended  by 
a  large  numl)er  of  citizens  of  that  town,  including 
:aiajor  Buckingham.  That  gallant  gentleman  had 
abused  me  roundly  when  I  decided  acainst  those  who 
desired  the  unopposed  request.  Special  legislation  was 
sought  and  obtained,  reversing  my  decision  in  effect. 
The  grade  crossing  was  put  in,  and  within  a  short  time 
afterwards  Major  Buckingham  and  his  guests  were 
killed  upon  it. 


A  CAXDIDATE  FOR  GOVERXOR      141 

The  grade  crossing  policy  caused  more  friction  than 
anything  else  during  n.y  administration  of  the  railroad 
commissioner's  department.  It  was  an  active  era  of 
electric  road  construction.  Very  frequently  indeed 
there  was  trouble  over  crossings  between  sieam  and 
electric  roads.  I  was  called  upon  almost  continuously 
to  grant  hearings,  at  which  appeared  the  best  lawvers 
ot  the  btate  and  many  capitalists.  One  incident 'dis- 
covered to  me  how  the  situation  might  be  made  extraor- 
dinarily profitable  by  one  so  inclined. 

I  had  made  a  decision  requiring  six  grade  separations 
to  cost  ten  thousand  dollars  each,  a  total  of  sixty  thou- 
sand dollars.  The  electric  road  builder  who  would 
have  to  do  this  work  called  upon  me  in  my  office 
early  one  forenoon,  before  the  separation  orders  had 
been  issued.  After  preliminaries  he  said  he  had  come 
to  lose  thirty  thousand  dollars  under  the  carpet  of 
my  office."  *^ 

For  just  a  moment  I  really  did  not  understand  him, 
but  m  the  next  half  second  it  flashed  to  my  mind  that  he 
was  trying  to  bribe  me.  It  was  probably  the  play  for 
me,  according  to  the  story  books,  to  be^  insulted  and 
knock  my  tempter  down  and  throw  him  out,  or  do  some 
such  dramatic  stunt.  But  I  only  saw  the  humor  of  the 
thing  and  told  him  that  if  the  monev  was  lost  under  the 
carpet,  the  janitor  would  find  it  after  a  while  and  return 
It,  but  he  would  lose  his  interest. 

Disgusted  with  what  he  appeared  to  think  was  my 
stupidity,  he  soon  departed. 

It  was  the  only  time  in  my  life  that  I  have  been 
offered  a  bribe.  He  was  going  to  split  fiftv-fiftv  with 
me  and  not  separate  the  grades.  A  lot  of  monev  t<.  nie 
was  thirty  thousand  dollars,  but  it  required  no  acces- 
sion of  houesty  to  refuse  it;  in  fact  it  was  not  even  a 


U'2 


THE  IRO.\  HU.NTEK 


tci.-pti.tion,  and  T  did  not  seem  to  get  for  mvself  from  it 
aii.v  real  luca.surc  of  my  true  c-liaracter. 

The  charm  of  the  governorship  oampaign  was  the 
attitud.'  l(,\.ard.s  me  of  certain  personal  friends  and 
particiHarly  „t  my  home  town  and  countv,  and  the 
entire  I  ppi'r  Peninsula.  I  had  every  I'ppc,"  P<.,.insnla 
county  behind  me  except  Luce.  The  two  delegates  from 
J.UCO  (  onnty  w.-re  co-itrolled  for  Stearns  hv  Con  Dan- 
aher  a  feih.w  lumberman.  In  the  Lower  Peninsula 
I  did  not  have  muc-h  support,  but  it  was  more  than 
onough  to  offset  the  loss  of  Luce. 

The  convention  deadlocked,  but  not  for  long  The 
h  erry  forces  decided  early  that  thev  were  l)eaten.  They 
••iiucusod.  Their  leaders  saw  thev  T.iiiiht  dictate  the 
nomination  by  throwing  to  O'Donnell  or  to  me.  In  a 
vote  between  us  I  l<,st  by  two.  If  the  F.Trv  del(>gates 
Jiad  come  to  me  I  would  in  all  probabilitv"  have  l„.en 
"<'"mu.t,Ml,  because  I  had  a  larce  second"  choic,-  f,,!- 
Jovvnig,  that  would  have  come  to  me  on  the  break  that 
lollowed.  Power  above  man  pilots  destiny.  Bliss  was 
nominated. 

I  have  always  thought  that  James  O'Donnell  joked 
Jiimselt  away  from  serious  consideration.  He  wa^  a 
hue  man.  In  public  he  was  a  monologist,  and  came  to 
be  regarded  as  a  funny  entertainer.  This  threw  a 
oiirtain  over  his  solider  merits.  Ecclesiastes:  ''  Dead 
flies  cause  the  ointment  of  the  apothecarv  to  send  forth 
u  stinking  savor;  so  doth  a  little  follv  "him  that  is  in 
reputation  for  wisdom  and  honor." 

Defeat   for   nomination   as   governor   at   the   Grand 
Kapids  convention  did  not  in  the  least  discourage  me 
On  the  contrary  it  opened  my  eves.     The  three  c(.n- 
tesfing  millionaires  had  spent  three  quarters  of  a  mil- 
li'  n  dollars.     Disgust  was  written  as  lari-c  in  the  State 


A  CANDIDATE  FOR  GOVERXOR       143 

as  sharae  had  l>oen.  It  is  as  though  the  individual  is 
a  phagoc^fe  and  sustains  the  same  relation  to  the  great 
body  politique  as  that  hacillus  does  to  the  human  bodv. 
^Vl,en  a  sickness  threatens  death  they  are  stimulated 
as  never  before  to  work  to  save  it. 

I  "Hared  in  the  eonmion  desire"  for  better  and  eleaner 
Inr^irs      Tins  was  int-nse  enough  within  me  to  eause 
ne  to  dee.de  that  I  would  get  out  of  polifios  and  remain 
«'"t  until  I  eould  participate  as  an  independent. 

Ihere  were  only  two  ways  then,  and  that  is  all  there 
are  now,  by  whi.-h  a  man  eould  become  a  candidate 
One  was  as  the  creature  of  interested  persons,  and  the 
other  was  upon  one's  own  initiative  as  an  indep«>ndent. 
In  fi.ct,  the  latter  way  oiFcred  the  only  possible  chance 
for  freedom  m  public  service.     T  could  not  see  how  a 
poor  man  could  be  wholly  ind  ])rndent  under  our  polit- 
ical systems  and  conditions  tlut,,  and  cannot  now.     The 
thing  then  for  me  to  do,  I  decided,  was  to  make  enough 
money  to  l>e  independent  and  to  make  it  by  meth.,.!.  so 
honest  that  I  could  not  reproach  mvself.  or  be  assailed 
by  an  opponent  or  an  enemy.     It  took  me  twelve  vears 
to  do  it. 

:^Jy  next  decision  was  to  reiinter  politics,  or  at  least 
to  offer  to  serve,  and  particularly  to  expose  and  oppose 
ail  forms  of  jwlitical  corrupt  practice.  Mv  happiness 
was  not  to  be  found  in  holding  office,  but  in  work  of  any 
kind  and  in  any  and  all  directions,  so  far  as  mv  power 
went  that  would  help  mankind.  Nor  could  I  (Convince 
myself  that  I  ^vas  unselHsh,  hvause  I  s.mn  f,„„i.l  that 
there  is  more  joy  i„  offering  t..  s.-rve  and  in  conscien- 
tiously doing  one's  b«.st  when  opjx.rtunitv  comes.  I 
was  after  that  sweetness. 

Fpon  all  sides   I  saw  the  hardness  and  the  miserv 
and  the  discontent  of  wealth.     Strong  men  would  phle- 


144 


THE  IRON  JIUXTEH 


lK)t(»inizo  evervlxidy  tlioy  cdiild,  and  then  in  an  an^ish 
of  reiuorsf,  seek  happiness  as  professional  i)hilanthro- 
pists  through  channels  of  helated  restoration,  only  to 
gatlier  disap|K)intnient  and  increased  bitterness. 

Somewhere  between  too  nnich  and  too  little  is  the 
economic  Utopia  that  .Solomon  (|uotes  Apir,  the  son  of 
Jakeh,  as  praying  for  when  he  asks :  "  Give  me  neitlier 
poverty  nor  riches," 

That  also  iH'came  my  prayer.  I  was  tlujs,  I  think, 
j)revented  from  havinj;  an  incurable  case  of  money 
f^rubbinfr.  When  my  possessions  pot  to  the  fairly  cer- 
tain value  of  two  hundred  fifty  thousand  dollars,  T  di- 
verted all  mv  <trenijth  to  public  service  in  any  way  that 
gave  me  a  chance. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE     POETBV,    CHAHM,    KOMANCE    AND    U8EFrLXES8    OF 

IHON    ORE 

FOR  a  period  of  years  Indian  after  Indian  brought 
me  samples  of  ore:  iron,  copi)er,  nickel,  silver, 
pold.     I  paid  no  attention  to  anv  but  iron.     It 
Ks  as  staple  as  wheat.     During  the  period  of  no  snow 
1  searched  the  wilderness  of  the  Xorth  from  one  rwk 
zone  to  another,  and  always  and  ever  east  to  west  across 
the  continental  formation.     In  the  winter  I  traveled 
My  idoa  was  to  know  my  own  countrv  first  hand.     I 
found  It  did  not  cost  any  more  to  travel  than  to  remain 
stationary.     In  fact  I  was  able,  by  increased  knowl- 
edge, to  earn  more  by  traveling  than  if  I  had  staved  at 
home.     It  appeared  to  be  just  as  easy  in  traveling  to 
have  my  wife  with  me,  as  to  leave  her  alone  at  home, 
and  we  were  both  benefited,  and  it  made  us  more  con- 
tented and  happy.     Searching  for  further  justification 
for  travel,  I  happened  to  hit  upon  the  rather  lugt.brious 
fact  that  the  world  does  very  well  without  all  of  us 
so  far  as  we  know,  after  death,  and  if  so,  it,  or  any 
portion  of  It,  ought  to  spare  us  handilv  during  life 

V  ery  early  I  discovered  that  in  order  to  get  the  most 
good  from  travel,  it  was  necessary  to  have  clear-cut  ob- 
jects and  purposes.  So  I  decided  to  visit  all  the  places 
'H  fl.e  wor  d,  if  possible,  where  iron  ore  is  produced  in 
commercial  quantities.  A  big  undertaking.  Natu- 
rally that  involved  a  study  of  other  lands,  their  resources 

145 


14« 


TIIK  IKON  UrXTEIl 


and  ficnhifsy,  Kv,.,,  tliiif  was  not  t'iioiij,'li,  so  I  added  tlic 
>tudv  of  p)vcniiii.Tit,  jin.l  partinilailv  tlic  iiictliods  of 
Colonial  yovcniinciit  adopted  l»v  tlio>e  powers  eliiefly 
eiif,'ap(|  ill  <-oloiii/ii,^rtlu.  world  :'(i  real  Uiitaiii.  France, 
liussia,  (MTiiianv.  Italy,  I'.)rtu-al,  Spain  and  Holland.' 
^-  one  tiiii.'  or  another,  those  peoples,  possihiv  except- 
ing'Tenton  an.!  Slav,  have  ruled  the  earth. 

Ironi  the  study  of  niodcrn  fr'»vernnient  it  was  an  easy 

.step  t(.  interest  in  the  history  of  the  yesterdays,  jind  in 

drainatie  personajn-s  such  as  Tsin,  .\khar,  Attila,  Alaric, 

Tiniur    Len;;,    (leinrhjz    Khan,    Ah'xander.    Xenophon, 

Cynis,    Xerxes,    Xapoleon    and    other    first-ehiss    inap- 

inakers  of  the  world.      As  a  result  I  found  myself  travel- 

inj;  and  .studying;  tlie  W(.rld  in  the  winter  and  threading 

a  trackless  wilderness  in  the  suinnier.      It  was  an  ideal 

and  also  a  stilish  life,  which  I  was  determined  to  desert 

as  soon  as  1  had  vi>it<'d  <'very  country  in  the  world  that 

had  its  own  autonomy,  and  every  suzerain  state  and 

colony  of  any  iin].ortance.      This  niy  wife  and  I  cora- 

ph'ted    to  our   satisfaction    in    I'.tl.'j".   after   more   than 

thirty  years  of  travel.     Hefore  we  left  our  own  country, 

we  went  into  ..very  State  and  to  Alaska  and  also  visited 

our  insular  j)osses»ions  as  rapidly  as  they  were  swured 

l»y  the  United  States. 

There  is  a  romance  alM)ut  iron  that  \  always  fas- 
cinated me  and  it  holds  nie  yet  as  a  mafjnet  attracts. 
I  wonder  if  tiie  courajreous  men  v/ho  seek  it  in  the 
howels  of  the  earth  realize  their  hi^'  part  in  the  life  of 
the  world  ?  Do  the  hrave,  bare  bodies,  that  reflect  the 
furnace  'if,dit  and  the  gloating  glow  of  the  smelter,  do 
their  work  because  of  a  subtle  sulH-onsciousness  of  the 
fact  that  the  wheels  of  the  world  and  civilization  would 
stop  if  they  stopped  i 

Iron  ore  and  steel  are  of  greater  importance  than 


USEFULNESS  OF  IKON  ORE  147 

whrat,  bpoansf  thrrp  are  mnt.v  ^ood  substitutes  for 
wheat,  riierc  is  nouo  for  inm  ore.  It  ha.s  a  clorv  of 
ysofniness  „I1  its  own.  Thos*.  who  are  assoi-iated  with 
Its  productu  .1  should  know  of  the  dip.itv  of  their  eall- 
•  nj?;  should  realize  it  and  then  their  hearts  and  souls 
would  fill  their  l,iff  Mies  until  brawn  and  spirit  are 
one,  as  an  instrument  of  the  jov  of  (..xistonee  in  the  h-en 
sense  of  service.  There  would  Ik-  a  brotherhood  of  iron 
that  could  not  know  strife  if  the  totality  of  perfornim.ce 
eou id  Ik.  shoui,  to  th*.  eyes  of  nli  those  who  inhabit  the 
world  of  steel.  Nor  would  .fs  iK^mnduries  h-  smaller 
than  those  of  the  earth,  for  it  wnuld  ti..  toprtlier  the  best 
(eveloped  American  iron  worker  and  the  lowliest 
Afnean. 

If  the  miner  who  1  hsts  or  shovels  or  trams  a  pound 
of  iron  ore  could  follow  it  to  its  destinations  and  uses, 
he  would  at  once  conclude  that  he  is  one  of  the  most 
valuable  and  imfiortant  factors  of  society.     This  is  the 
truth.     The  same  is  true  of  the  furnaeeman  and  the 
foundryman,   the   worker   in   the   steel    mill,   and   the 
artisan  of  keen  eve  and  trained  hand  who  fashions  the 
products  of  iron  ore  with  mind  and  heart.     True  also 
of  the  master  captains,  who  have  organized  the  armies 
of  the  age  of  steel  and  iron,  and  who  are  really  learning 
that  their  industrial  soldiers  give  up  their  lives  even 
more  bravely  upon  the  battlefields  of  constantly  applied 
human  effort,  than  those  who  rend  each  other  at  the  can- 
non's mouth. 

From  this  realization  it  is  only  a  step  further  to  the 
practical  conviction  that  they  are  entitled  to  even  more 
consideration;  to  continuous  employment  (what  kind 
of  an  army  would  it  be  that  did  not  ki^ej)  its  soldiers 
constantly,  but  de{K'nd.-d  upon  picking  them  up,  belter 
skelter,  when  nmJed).  to  a  mininmm  wage,  to  old  agu 


148 


THE  IKOX   IirXTKU 


insiiraiipo  and  fKMisioim,  to  iido«|uatf'  pompcnsation  for 
injury  and  dcutli  nsnltinjr  t"r(»in  flic  risks  of  their  work, 
to  sanitiirv  linn>in;r  and  nioriil  rnvininrufnts.  Mrnari's 
sncli  as  sahxiiis  art'  Im-Ih^  icmovi'd.  All  of  tin'se  things 
arc  of  the  niornnit.  Af  first  they  were  adopted  boraus«» 
it  is  g(M»d  hiisiiic^s.  Alri'ady  tlitv  are  reaching  tin* 
th-eper  and  finer  source  of  their  cansc  in  the  hearts  and 
M.iils  of  mankind;  in  takini;  intimately  honie  of  the 
law  of  laws:  I  am  my  brother's  keeper.  And  this 
nnist  comjtrelu'nd  siK'ial  kindnesses  as  well  as  economic 
guardianship. 

When  iiidnstrv  was  yonnir,  master  and  servant  com- 
posed the  family.  There  was  friendship  and  acquaint- 
ance and  sympathy.  When  growth  reached  such  an 
extent  that  the  nnisti-r  r-ould  not  ktuiw  his  many  servants 
iind  feel  for  tlK-m  deeply,  lalnir  tronhles  In-gan  to  In-get. 
\\  ifh  the  advent  of  artifi<-ial  masters.  eoriMirations  lM)rn 
l»y  the  law,  marhlesfpie  and  lacking  human  responsi- 
hilify.  the  hiatus  iM'tween  uiaster  an<}  servant  widened 
almost  unhridireahly.  The  eur*-  is  coming;  is  on  the 
way;  has  already  arrived  siK)radieaIly,  in  the  r(>-human- 
i/intr  of  industry. 

Only  can  this  fimilly  l»e  achieved  hy  the  master 
thinking  as  the  si-rvant  thinks,  and  the  servant  thinking 
as  the  master  thinks.  There  will  then  Ik'  no  master  and 
M-rvant  as  now  (h'fined.  Itatlier  there  will  he  such  a 
nnituali/.ation  as  will  make  for  leader  and  led;  for 
helper  and  helped. 

Faniish(>d  are  the  nuisses  for  want  of  human  recog- 
nition and  consideration.  They  unconsciously  resent 
arrogance  and  overlordship  with  its  coldness  and  auto- 
cracy; even  the  iK'nevolent  despotism  of  monev.  In 
.\meriea  this  is  more  true  than  it  is  in  other  countries. 

Hunger  for  freedom,  f(»r  equality,  for  opportunity. 


ITSEFULXESS  OF  IKUX  ORE  149 

for  osoapo  from  tl.r  oppHwinri  of  falso  hiinian  pride  has 
milkfd  fh(,  k-st  ..f  fh..  oarth  int.)  our  national  pail. 
Ucrv  they  swiftly  obtain  and  ravenously  i-herish  tlie 
wliolesoine  idea  that  one  man  is  as  ^mh!  as' another.  To 
Inlieve  that  way;  aye,  to  feel  it  in  their  heart  of  hearts, 
IS  why  they  have  eoine  here  from  the  vaii<'vs  and  moun- 
tains of  the  earth. 

Then  when  they  see  Old  .M„n  Slohson's  son  .\ndv 
throwins  on  doj;.  chest  swelled,  elephantiasis  <,f  the  era- 
ruum,  hard  of  voire  and  jflassy  of  ,.y.'.  InHsinj;  them 
Jiround  like  do^'s,  running  „ver  their  .-hildren  in  his 
autom<»hih'  and  nuininj?  over  them  in  his  manmT,  the 
very  devil  in  them  is  aroused.  They  have  known  Old 
Afjin  Slohson  sinee  iK.ylHMHJ;  worked  under^'round  and 
on  the  surface  with  him,  and  they  know  that  Andv  is  no 
Ix'fter  than  they  are. 

lint  he  is  stronger,  he  ean  drive  them ;  yes,  and  he 
can  also  enrage  them.  The  artiHeial  master  witliout 
heart  or  eonscienee  has  set  Andy  up  over  them  to  p-ind 
their  bodies  and  their  souls.  As  an  em.)lient  to  passion 
they  do  build  libraries  and  elubs  and  seh.H)ls,  and  g^•m- 
iiasia  and  sueh  things,  and  tln'se  arc  all  verv  well. 'but 
rhey  mean  nothing  at  all  in  the  way  of  reuK.ving  the 
sharp  instruments,  pride  and  |>ower,  that  are  digging 
away  at  the  tender  spots  in  labor's  manh«M)d. 

Everything  physical  may  be  supplied  to  those  who 
work  under  bosses,  good  wages  enough  and  all,  and  they 
will  remain  discontented  and  reb<>llious  until  the  human 
touches  are  supplied:  love,  fraternity,  assfM-iation,  kind 
words  and  deeds  from  the  heart  and  not  from  the  pocket 
lx>ok;  real  interest  transcending  commercial  concern. 

There  never  has  been  lalvir  trouble  where  there  has 
been  personal  understanding,  personal  acquaintance,  and 
personal   friendship,   regard   and  respect   between  em- 


ir.o 


THE  IRON  HUNTER 


I»lnvpr  and  rmployoc.  I  know,  booansc  I  havo  been  an 
cmplovcc  with  pick  and  ax  and  barrow  and  shovel,  and 
manv  a  time  I  have  felt  like  smashing  the  head  of  an 
arro^raiit  kiss,  not  iM'cause  I  was  hungrv,  but  because  I 
was  not  treated  as  considerately  as  I  would  have  been  if 
I  had  been  a  brute. 

I  {r\wss  we  p)f  r)ff  the  iron  ore  trail,  but  not  far.  for 
it  leads  into  the  hearts  and  minds  of  men,  as  well  as  into 
their  amis  and  ha<'ks  and  purses. 

There  is  war,  that  leveler  of  soeii-ty ;  the  great  master 
surp-on  of  nations,  opcratinpr  upon  the  earth  as  the  in- 
dividual surgeon  operates  on  the  lH)d.v.  The  knife  is 
glided  bv  the  same  uiwrrinjr  hand,  directed  bv  the  All- 
seeinjr  eye.  and  as  the  hmnan  cannot  see  and  know  the 
mysteries  of  the  hospital  operating  r(M)m,  just  so  we 
cannot  omprehejid  the  purp.)ses  of  the  Great  Surgeon 
of  the  universe. 

Into  cannon  and  into  the  surgeon's  knife  enter  iron 
ore.  The  bellowing  death  of  one  and  the  delicate  life- 
saving  of  the  other,  involves  the  use  of  steel.  Thev 
w<'re  a  lump  of  iron  ore  yesterday.  Great  Iwomotives 
made  from  iron  rush  over  rails  of  iron  ore,  |)erforming 
missions  of  peace  and  war.  Harvest  fields  are  gambo- 
gian  in  their  ripeness  and  renitent  until  the  reaping 
machines  come.  Then  they  lie  domi  peac<-fully  with 
that  child  of  iron  ore. 

When  the  Crusader  dreamed  and  gave  his  life  to 
recover  the  land  of  Christ,  the  sword  that  gleamed  with 
the  glory  of  heaven  and  the  zeal  of  deep  desire  was  a 
thing  of  iron  ore.  The  bread  we  eat  is  baked  in  pans 
made  from  iron  or(>.  in  ovens  made  from  iron  ore. 
Our  span  of  life  is  ticked  off  by  springs  of  iron  ore  in 
cItK'k  and  watch. 

Huge  pumping  engines,  made  from  iron  ore,  handle 


USEFULNESS  OF  IKON  ()J{E 


151 


water  through  rh  .  of  iron  ore  for  all  the  purposes  of 
life.  Ocean  st.  ships,  made  of  iron  ore,  throb  with  a 
life  that  is  nio-  "an  artificial.  Giant  cranes,  made 
from  iron  ore,  i.ove  about  in  Gargantuan  majesty. 
One  can  hxik  nowhere  and  think  nowhere  without  en- 
countering manifestations  of  iron  ore  dug  out  of  the 
earth  and  handled  purposefully  by  real  men.  There 
is  iron  ore  in  our  blocxl  and  bodv. 

It  is  the  age  of  iron  ore.  Let  those  who  produce  it 
hold  up  their  heads  with  dignity  and  walk  erect  among 
nien.  They  give  to  it  their  lives  that  it  may  serve  man- 
kind. Xo  wonder  the  sewing  machine  aiid  the  auto- 
mobile and  the  locomotive  and  the  ship  and  all  the 
things  made  from  iron  ore  are  so  human.  Thev  are 
human,  in  that  they  have  coat  myriads  of  lives  "while 
making. 

A  workman's  average  working  life  is  twenty  years. 
Many  labor  for  a  longer  time,  but  few  are  at  their 
best  for  even  twenty  years.  A  prize  fighter's  life  is  ten 
years.  The  same  forces  are  employed  bv  the  prize 
Hghter  and  the  skilled  mechanic.  Of  course  th.-  latter 
applies  them  to  higher  purpose.  He  hammers  some- 
thing into  useful  shape,  while  the  pugilist  is  hammering 
something  into  useless  shape. 

The  heart  beats  seventy  times  a  minute;  fortv-two 
hundred  times  an  hour;  one  hundred  thousand  times  a 
day;  sixteen  million  times  a  year,  and  as  many  times 
sixteen  millions  as  a  person  lives  years.  Each  time  the 
heart  beats  it  lifts  nearly  a  half  pound  of  blood,  and  all 
of  the  twenty  to  thirty  pounds  of  blood  in  the  luxly  are 
forced  through  the  heart  and  lungs  every  minute.  Ea(!h 
heart  Iwat  represents  a  punctuation  of  death.  Just  as 
the  tick-tock  of  a  clock  tells  .)fT  a  measure  of  time  that 
will  never  l)e  again  for  you  and  me,  so  d(K's  each  heart 


152 


THK  IHOX  lirXTER 


beat  reduco  the  total  lioart  lM>ats.  Tlic  moment  a  child 
is  boru  it  bi-gins  to  draw  upon  its  hank  account  of  ex- 
jH'ctant  heart  Iwats  and  expend  tlieni.  A  third  of  life  is 
utihzed  in  preparation  for  that  portion  of  the  span  that 
is  useful  in  a  creative  sense. 

Kverv  time  an  iron  worker,  or  any  other,  lifts  his 
hand  or  Lends  his  hack,  just  as  nuiny  heart  Ix'ats  as  w- 
eur  duriii<;  the  time  reiiuired  for  these  physical  demon- 
strations are  expemh'd,  and  the  worker  has  jriven  of  his 
life  in  the  proportion  that  they  bear  to  all  of  the  heart 
beats  he  will  he  vonclisnfcd. 

In  this  way  may  he  h:i<l  mhiw  idea  of  exactly  how 
men  and  women  -rive  their  lives  in  lalK)r.  It  may  l)e 
imafrined,  if  not  y<'t  .|iiite  proven,  that  their  lives  enter 
into  their  pruducii.ns  :ifre<-tinfr  the  character  or  quality 
of  the  artich"  that  is  nuah'.  If  is  well  known  that  the 
work  of  prison<-rs  never  makes  for  j.erfection.  The 
more  deeply  one  is  in  h.ve  with  his  work  the  h'tU-r  the 
product,  a!id  the  ha[>pier  the  performance.  All  great 
inventions  have  resulted  front  freedom  of  effort  ap- 
plied with  love. 

When  we  think  in  this  way  we  are  not  unreasonable 
if  we  think  we  can  detect  man's  life  in  all  those  things 
that  are  commonly  ealled  artificial,  just  as  we  may  so 
plainly  see  (iod  in  everything. 

In  ordi-r  to  d..  the  best  work  it  follows  that  the  worker 
nmst  love  to  work  and  he  loyal  to  self  and  to  emplover, 
whether  the  employer  is  yourself  or  some  other,  this 
feeling  is  possible  in  any  degree  of  purity  only  when  the 
spirit  of  the  worker  is  permitted  to  flow  freely,  without 
being  dammed  by  resentment  and  bitterness. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


IBON    ORE   BACfEEIA 

THE  origin  of  iron  ore  is  a  mystery  just  as  all 
thinp?  are  a  mystery,  unless  one  has  faith  enough 
to  find  the  eosmie  cause  in  God.  Iron  is  present 
in  some  form  in  almost  everything.  Eeonon.ic  geolo- 
gists know  a  got)d  deal  about  how  it  has  Wn  gathered 
and  deposited  as  it  is  found  in  the  earth.  Also  there 
is  a  good  deal  yet  that  they  do  not  know,  which  makes 
their  work  all  the  more  interesting. 

Iron  present  in  solution  in  the  subterranean  hydro- 
sphere has  been  deposited  ujx)n  imix^rviotis  basements. 
Sometimes  there  have  been  lithospheric  and  atmospheric 
actions  causing  mechanico-chemical  alterations  that  have 
won  the  iron  ore. 

The  most  interesting  and  most  modern  discovery  is 
that  iron  ore  is  made  by  bugs.  European  physicists 
have  known  for  some  time  of  the  existence  of  what  is 
called  iron  ore  bacteria.  Xow  the  fact  is  commonly 
accepted  in  America. 

E.  C.  Harder  and  K.  T.  Chaml)erlain,  well-knowii 
American  geologists,  mining  engineers  and  investi- 
gators, attribute  the  great  iron  ore  dejwsits  in  the  Ita- 
bira  district  of  Minas  Geraes,  Brazil,  to  iron  ore  bac- 
teria. 

With  great  respect  for  the  basic  flow  theories  of  Van 
Hise  and  Leith,  and  equal  regard  for  the  similar  ideas 

153 


154 


TIIK   IRON   lirXTKR 


of  i^iiH'ous  iriHuj'iicc  held  l>y  T.  ( ".  C'liambprlain  and 
Sali-lnirv,  rlicv  did  not  find  siirticicnt  I'vidcncc  of  vol- 
t-aiiic  iiilru-iniis  in  IJra/il  and  were  cntriiK'Hcd  to  look 
fiirflicr  for  a  source.  U«'f<'rrin<.'  to  the  Itahira  fonna- 
fioti  Harder  and  ( 'liaintn'rlain  .--ay  in  tin-  '/(iiirnal  (>f 
(irolor/i/,  N'ol.  XXI 11.  i'iirt  I.  No.  4.  Ma.v-Jum-;  I'art 
II,  No.  :.,  duly  Aiifriist,  ]'.n:>: 


"  TIk'  Hatatid  schist  ropn'sonts  a  8la<'koninn  of  st^limen- 
fntiiiM  froin  tlic  riipiij  drpusitinn  which  chflniotcrizcd  the 
liivinu'  ijdwii  (if  tlic  sands  comiiosintr  the  Curinc^a  quartzite. 
This  shickciiinjr  "f  clastic  sc<liniciitati"'n  contimu'd  iiiitil 
the  cjiisc  (if  flu-  Hiitaoil  ciXM'i),  \vht<ii  very  littlt'  clastic, 
niatcri.d  w.is  hcinir  washed  into  the  >ca  in  flic  region  cdii- 
»i<icred.  The  hind  presuin.ihlv  had  hecorne  so  l^w  as  to  yield 
very  little  ineehani<'al  stHlinieiit.  and  with  the  IdWerinjr  of 
the  lai  ■  surface  thi-re  was  pnihahly  c((nihin<-<l  a  jrradual  re- 
treat of  the  shore  line.  Siinidtanenus  with  the  tfreat  di- 
minution of  mechanical  sediment  deposited  in  the  area 
under  consideration,  there  c()uuuencc(l  a  precipitation  of 
ferric  hydroxide  from  solution,  materials  in  solution  hein»r 
prohahly  carried  hevoiid  the  Imrder  of  the  region  of  clastic 
sedimentation.  This  preei])itation  may  have  been  due, 
eitluT  to  purely  chemicid  reactions  taking  nlace  in  the  sea, 
or  |»erhaps  to  the  operation  of  the  inll  htioim  iron  harlfrin. 
which  cause  the  deposition  of  ferric  hydroxide  from  waters 
eontainintr  f(  rn.iis  carlwinflte  in  solution.  These  iron  bac- 
teria are  said  to  possess  the  jieeuliar  property  of  utilizing? 
as  food,  the  carbon  dioxide  locked  up  in  very  dilute  solu- 
tions of  ferrous  larhonafe.  Ferric  hydroxide  is  left  behind 
and  is  depoeited  as  a  sediment.  .  .  .  Not  huvinf?  nmch  con- 
tidcnce  in  the  hypothesis  that  the  iron  oxide  was  precipi- 
tat<Ml  directly  from  sea  water  by  ordinary  chemical  means, 
w(>  jirefer  to  turn  to  the  iron  hacteria  as  perhaps  forming 
a  lM>tter  working'  hypothesis  ...  It  is  now  known  that 
irnu'h  of  the  boff  iron  or(>  Wmg  formed  in  lapKJiis  at  the 
present  time  i.s  the  result  .  f"  the  activity  of  a  certain  jrroup 
of  bacteria  known  as  the  iron  bacteria.  The  iron  bacteria 
i.!(!id.'   many    individn-l   species,   of  which    the  thread   bac- 


IRON  ORE  BUGS 


155 


tpria  rhiamydothrix.  rinlHonplla.  Spirophyllnm.  Crpnothrix. 
and  rionothrix,  nn<l  tho  owcus  fr.rin  Siderooajwa  have  ]^T- 
haps  been  most  carefully  studiwl.'' 


roil  ores  are 

oil  IV 


Van  ITisc  and  Lvith  do  not  flaim  that  all  i 
depcKsifcd  or  concentrated  hy  fire  ju-tion.  Tlicv 
su^jrcst  that  the  frn-at  iron  ore  l)odi('>i  in  the  Michipui 
and  Minnesota  nnifres  of  flu'  Lake  Superior  rejrion  have 
eoine  from  asswiated  hasaltie  lavas,  either  from  the 
maginatic  waters  or  from  cl.eniical  reactions  lK»tween  the 
hot  hasic  laviis  and  the  anci«nt  sea  waters. 

Iron  hacteria  live  in  either  staiidiiifr  or  ninnin^  clear 
waters  that  contain  iron  cmpnunds.  Turbid  waters, 
and  those  containiii<r  much  or^ranic  matter,  do  iKtt  offer 
them  asvlum.  S(»  active  are  iron  hacteria  in  makinj;  for 
conditions  that  leave  ferric  hydroxide  In-hind,  that  water 
pi{M,'s  of  cities  where  the  water  contains  ferrous  car- 
l)onafe  have  been  known  to  be  completely  closed  by  them. 

iSbeaths  of  dead  iron  bacteria  have  been  found  in 
multitudes  in  limonite  deposits,  Knormous  de|M)sits  of 
several  kinds  of  iron  ore  are  known  to  n-sult  from  the 
work  of  iron  bacteria.  It  is  iM'lieved  that  the  vast 
Brazilian  deposits,  amonp  the  most  extensive  known, 
were  formed  with  comparative  rapidity.  Winopradskv 
otfers  a  chemical  formula  in  explanation  of  the  methods 
of  iron  bacteria.  Little  enoufrh  is  yet  known  about 
them.  It  is  not  beyond  reason  that  thi'y  are  at  the  verv 
threshold  of  life  origin,  and  work  as  mitosis  and  metab- 
olism, one  set  of  bacteria  p<'rfnnnimr  anabolisra,  and 
another  katabolism  —  one  building  as  the  other  tears 
down.  So  much  for  the  bugs  that  make  iron  ore.  Tliev 
are  closely  akin  to  the  enzymes  that  seem  to  Ih'  everv- 
where  and  in  everything. 

What  mostly  is  of  importance  is  that  iron  ore  exists 


ir>n 


THE  I  HON  HUNTEK 


and  that  it  is  distributed  all  over  the  earth  with  fine 
nfferonce  to  ecoiioniic  couveiUL'iK't',  Another  thing  id 
known  to  be  a  fact  and  that  is  that  .lames  J.  Hill's 
statement  that  there  would  U-  an  exhaustion  of  the 
world's  supply  of  iron  ore  within  a  few  years,  is  inac- 
curate. There  is  enough  iron  ore  known  of  to  stipply 
the  world  for  centuries,  and  not  a  tithe  probably  of  what 
exists  has  Ik-cu  discovered. 

The  faseinating  truth  that  iron  bacteria  are  manu- 
facturing new  dc|M)sits  all  of  the  time  is  not  of  great 
imj)ortance  in  Iwaring  uikui  supply,  for  while  it  is  be- 
lieved that  «)re  lK)dies  are  created  with  greater  rapidity 
than  was  formerly  thought,  it  cannot  Ik'  hofK'd  that  na- 
ture is  now  keeping  up  with  man's  demands. 

It  is  interesting  to  contemplate  that  the  greatest  oper- 
ated deposits  of  iron  ore  in  the  world  are  kx-ated  in 
arctic  and  sul)-arctic  regions,  nr  in  zones  where  nearly 
half  the  year  is  wintj-r,  as  in  the  Lake  Superior  country. 
This  may  Ik-  partially  accounted  for  by  the  potentiality 
of  and  volume  of  eonimercial  activity  in  the  colder  re- 
gions, for  there  are  extensive  iron  ore  formations  in  the 
tropics  and  sub-tropics. 

Iteraember  also  that  iron  bacteria  live  in  clear  water 
and  are  not  at  honu'  in  impure  water.  In  the  colder 
regions  water  is  most  likely  to  be  pure;  in  hotter  zones 
it  is  most  apt  to  W  impure. 

Along  the  isothermal  of  half  a  growing  year  and 
half  a  resting  year  life  is  intense,  as  the  period  of 
inertia  is  perfect  rest.  Consequently  here  Nature 
seems  to  do  more  work  than  in  the  tropics,  and  of  a  bet- 
ter quality.  This  is  proven  by  the  extreme  tilthfulness 
of  certain  sections  of  the  Lake  Superior  region  and  of 
Siberia. 

There  are  several  kinds  of  iron  ore  if  consideration  is 


TROX  ORE  BTTGS  157 

ffivpii  to  olosp  forhmVal  classifi^ntion.     For  the  priL-tical 
purposes  „f  tl,,.  ...xploHT  an.i    prosp^vtor  it   is  ahnost 
vunxifrU  f„  know  irr.n  stoi...  from  nfluT  .stones.     Next  he 
liiirns  that  ma^t-tic  ore  or  ina-iietito  attracts  the  com- 
pass nocdh-  and  that  hematite  ore  dt»es  not.     Bv  "  heft- 
"'ff     «t  in  his  hand  a.id  by  scrutinizing  the  texture  he 
•an  ffive  a  close  guess  to  its  pc'rc-entape  of  metallic  iron 
••ontent;  .-an  come  quite  close  to  it  by  weighing  it  in 
the  air  and  .n  the  water,  so  as  to  learn  tlw  relative  sp<- 
'•ihc  gravity  of  the  speeimon  ,„,der  examination.      If 
there  is  much  sulphur  it  is  indicated  bv  a  showing  of 
iroTi  pyrites.  '  " 

Phosphorus  is  a  disturbing  component  and  can  only 
Ik,  determin.-.i  by  analysis.  Titanium  is  worst  of  ail 
and  cannot  W  d.-tecfed  without  an  analvsis.  It  is  al- 
mo.st  never  formidably  present  in  hematite.  Fmn  be- 
n.g  powdered,  hematite  show.s  reddish,  hence  its  name 
.Magnetite  powder  black  and  lim.mite.  yellow.  It  is 
not  important  to  recognize  martite  inde,;.ndentlv.  In 
America  Ix'tter  ores  rendered  sid.-rite  vnlueh'ss"  for  a 
tune,  although  it  is  profitably  mined  in  Austria  and  also 
in  Canada. 

Once  it  was  supposed  that  all  iron  ore  deposits  of 
sufficient  size  to  Ik?  eommerciallv  valuable,  showed  an 
outcropping  somewhere.  This  idea  has  Ikk^ii  abandoned 
lor  the  more  accurate  one  that  all  iron  ore  formations, 
near  enough  to  the  surface  to  contain  reachable  enrich- 
ments, show  somewhere  upon  the  surface.  Where  they 
dip  below  the  top  of  the  ground  thev  may  be  traced 
accurately  nearly  always  by  the  u.se  of  dial  compass  and 
dipping  needle;  preferably  the  former.  All  magnetic 
ore  formations  are  easily  mapped.  Zones  of  hematite, 
taconite,  siderite,  itabarite  and  some  others,  can  be  de- 
pended upon  to  have  formational  attraction  that  can  be 


l',H 


TIIK   IKON   IH'NTKK 


utilized  very  siifisfactorily  in  umpping.  LiiiKtnito,  mar- 
titf  and  kindri'd  lx»g  ori's,  uniy  p<»ss<'ss  no  ass(H*iatod 
iiuifjiirtisin  and  (••mscquontlv.  if  covcjrd  bv  murli  over- 
burden, tbeir  discovorv  is  aeeidental,  fbrougli  tbe  clian- 
nels  (if  excavations  and  erosion  artitieial  and  natural. 
Wbere  ii.nM'ous  flows  intrude  sedimentary  rocks,  tbe 
iron  liunter  looks  with  greatest  care. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

REAmWO  THE  8TORV  OK  TIIK  8TONEB  AS  PRINTED  ON  THE 
PAOE8  OF  THE   EARTh's  81  KKACE 

IN  general  iron  ore  reconnoissances  where  nmch  ter- 
ritory must  be  eovered  and  frequent  lonj;  inarches 
made,  little  attention  is  paid  to  anvthinj;  but  out- 
••ropping  rocks.  In  this  way  alone  it  is  |H)ssible  almost 
l""vond  a  doubt  easily  to  determine  whether  a  region 
contains  an  iron  ore  formation.  This  statement  is  pred- 
icated upon  the  fact  of  a  reasonable  frequency  of  rock 
exposures.  In  a  land  of  tundra,  and  stream  and  glacial 
drift,  more  care  must  be  exercised. 

Such  a  section  is  not  attractive  to  the  ordinary  pros- 
pector. Sometimes  it  is  the  case  that  glaciers  have  cut 
off  and  picked  up  extensive  iron  ore  lenses  and  trans- 
ported them  for  hundreds  of  miles.  Wlien  the  travel 
has  been  for  a  long  distance,  the  ore  is  lost  amidst  the 
other  glacial  cargo  or  dissipated  by  water  action  upon 
lateral  or  terminal  moraines. 

It  may  he  possible  that  in  some  instances  the  ore 
may  be  carried  for  only  a  short  distance  and  dumped  in 
large  pockets.  Some  keen  geological  observers  contend 
that  the  iron  ores  of  Michigan  and  Minnesota  have  been 
.•arried  from  the  Lake  Superior  north  shore  in  Canada 
in  this  manner.  Interesting  speculation  if  nothing 
more. 

When  an  iron  ore  region  is  found,  more  careful  work 

109 


IfiO 


THK  IRON  IIFNTER 


is  nfrrssflpv  in  ordrr  to  fhtiiic  flio  Icn0h,  width  and  di- 
nrtion  of  the  iron  foriniition.  Still  moro  carp  inuHt 
Ik'  p'won  in  ordfr  to  find  tlio  richer  concrntrations  that 
«lo  m.t  «'xtnid<'  ol)vioiislv. 

To  learn  the  l)oniidiiries  of  th«^  iron  formation,  tho 
territory  nia.v  Ih-  cut  info  secfioin,  roii|L'hl.v  mapped  and 
then  pone  over  exjHdifiou.sly  with  eye  for  onterops.  and 
the  dial  eoinpnss  and  dipping  needle  for  under-ground 
evidence. 

The  search  fur  "shipfiinfr"  ore.  that  is  ore  that  can 
Iw  marketed  to  a  profit,  is  most  comp<'llinjj,  and  in  its 
I»roaecution  lmiidre<is  of  millions  of  dollars  have  been 
ex|)endcd.  The  (trospccfor  dfws  much  preliminary 
work,  which  is  somcfimcs  rewarded.  He  follows  everv 
creek  and  even  scjirchcs  the  river  shores  and  esjx'eiallv 
at  fr«irjres,  where  nn-k  formations  are  ex|K»sed.  Ravines, 
fjullies  iM'tween  hills,  and  every  d«'pression  that  is 
touched  hy  running  wafer  may  yield  rich  returns  in 
knowledp'.  Cavities  left  hy  the  overfurned  stumps  of 
trees  and  the  material  clin^inj?  fo  their  ro<ita,  may  jrive 
up  secrets  never  told  In-fore.  \  windfall  in  a  forest 
in  an  iron  ore  country  may  expose  as  much  ledpe  and 
formation  as  cotjld  otherwise  Ik-  done  by  the  expenditure 
of  thousands  of  dollars.  Classification  and  study  of  the 
I)ebbles  in  a  stream  U'd  should  not  be  necleeted. 

I  think  the  ju'rcafest  charm  of  prospecting  is  not  the 
hope  of  findiufr  wealth  ;  it  is  the  life  in  the  clean,  unhurt 
out-of-doors.  Ciod  is  in  the  lakes  and  streams,  in  the 
sky  and  stars,  in  the  hills  and  valleys,  in  the  throat  of 
birds  and  even  in  the  ululations  of  wolf,  owl  and  frog, 
in  everything,  of  cver\  thing  —  Everything. 

Time  after  time  I  have  come  upon  n  little  lake  set  as 
a  jewel  in  the  hill*  that  adorn  nafuri's  wedding  ring 
to  heaven,  the  circle  of  the  horizon.      Xo  h\iman  eyes, 


THE  STOUV  OK  TlIK  «TO\KS         lei 

jKTliaps  not  ov.n  tluwc  of  the  Itream-hatiDtinj?  aborig- 
iiiHl  tiortli  man.  had  cvrr  Mwld  If. 

'i'hrn  alvva.vs  I  wmihl  kiut-I  d<«wii  on  thp  psrarpmcnt 
and  whisiHT  a  w..rd  of  praise  t«.  (Jml,  or  I  would  raiw 
mv  ryes  to  heaven,  drop  niy  tump  line  to  my  ehe»t.  lift 
my  hat  and  let  my  soul  pour  ojit  in  mute  and  helpless 
thanksgiving.  I  wish  I  could  tell  just  how  I  felt  at 
such  times;  better  yet,  I  wish  every  one  mi|fht  feel  the 
same  thin^.  No  po«.t's  ecstasy  or  musician's  rhapsody 
could  l)e  half  so  sweet,  it  .seems  to  me,  unless  thev  are 
much  the  same. 

Lying  at  night  on  the  rocks  with  onlv  the  starrv 
heavens  above  me  I  w-emed  aonip  irnos  to  hear  witli 
Pythagoras  the  music  of  the  spheres. 

Prosfjecting  in  the  north  country  is  hard  or  easv,  de- 
I)t'nding  upon  the  prosp«K-tor,  his  "thoughts,  his  desires, 
his  heart,  his  whole  In-ing.  If  he  is  so  constituted  that 
he  can  se<'  and  feel  the  divinely  raptured  solitudes,  his 
life  will  Im'  biggened  and  he  will  develop  within  him- 
self those  rich  things  of  spirit,  that  are  worth  more  than 
even  all  the  iron  ore  in  the  world;  also  he  may  find  the 
iron  ore. 

I  do  not  think  I  have  reminded  you,  as  having  a  bear^ 
ing  upon  the  selfish  side  of  the  pro'position,  that  the  iron 
ore  of  the  world  is  worth  more  in  dollars  and  cents  than 
the  combined  value  of  all  the  diamonds,  gold  and  silver. 
After  manufacture,  it  possesses  a  greater  monev  value 
than  all  the  wheat  in  the  world.  But  it  is  so  big  and 
eommon  and  near  that  it  is  not  appreciated  particularly 
any  more  than  are  pure  air  and  sunlight. 

I  am  writing  these  things  down  because  of  mv  pre- 
viously stated  belief  that  more  iron  ore  exists  and  will 
be  discovered  in  the  future,  than  has  been  found  in  the 
past.     North  of  us  lies  the  vastest  unexplored  territory 


MICRC<OPY    RISOIUTION    TEST    CHART 

ANSI  and  ISO     ;ST  CHART  No    7 


1.0 


I.I 


*-         |40 

I-  ■■■ 


1.25  11.4 


2.5 
2.2 

12.0 
1.8 

1.6 


jr     APPLIED  ItVMGE     Inc 


•■^'5    tis»    Ml'     ,'-e»' 

:  !'^:-    t8i     ■    C30C       P'-rire 
:'"6;    288  '   ''989  -   fn. 


i»;2 


THK  lliON   11  INTER 


in  the  world.  I  refer  to  the  Dominion  of  Canada.  It 
is  rich,  and  where  it  is  untouched  hv  man,  it  is  clean. 
1  here  is  not  a  drnp  of  unwhohvsome  water  nor  any 
poisonous  insects  nor  rej)tiles  Ix-tween  Lake  Superior 
and  the  anmra  lidreaiis.  In  summer  there  are  moscjui- 
toes,  i)hick  (lies  and  noseeunis,  hut  these  are  onlv  triiles 
to  the  real  man.  Even  the  poor  Indian  and  Esquimo 
becoin(!  immune  to  them,  and  then  wliv  should  not  the 
white  man  with  his  alhired  superiority,  if  he  really  has 
the  fruods.  To  _\oun«r  men  of  courajre  and  resource  the 
limitless  North  otTers  the  cleanest  fight  in  the  world, 
and  if  you  win,  the  fruits  of  victory  are  plenteous  and 
satisfying. 

This  cannot  k'  said  of  Michigan,  Wisconsin  and  Min- 
nesota, where  exist  the  largest  and  richest  iron  ore 
deposits  in  the  world,  and  where  much  ore  will  he  found 
that  is  not  known  of  now,  k-cause  the  jx)ssihle  districts 
are  nearly  all  held  by  private  owners.  The  great  iron 
and  copper  companies  have  had  visions,  and  have  l)ought 
extensive  holdings  wherever  tliere  is  a  chance  that  values 
exist.  I  suppose  there  are  two  sides  to  this  state  of 
affairs,  hut  I  must  confess  that  I  think  it  is  all  wrong. 

Even  the  lumU'rinen,  who  bought  the  public  domain 
for  a  dollar  and  twenty-tive  cents  an  acre,  reserve  the 
mineral  rights  when  they  sell.  Undeveloped  wealth 
of  this  kind  has  Immmi  easy  to  hold  so  far.  Frequently 
it  has  paid  no  tax  at  all  and  it  never  has  paid  enough. 
In  Minnesota,  before  the  ^lesaba  Kange  was  discovered 
and  even  afterwards  before  the  range  had  In-en  mapped 
with  any  accuracy,  lumbermeti  cut  off  pine  and  then 
abandoned  their  timber  lands  to  the  State.  In  (piite  a 
few  instances  valuable  iron  ore  has  been  discovercil 
upon  these  lands,  from  which  the  State  receives  a  very 
considerable  income  in  royalties. 


Aiitliur  ill  typical  primeval  juiipl,^  on  the  Hudson  Bay  lieijrl.t 

uf  land 


THE  STOUV  OF  THE  STONES        163 

When  the  rnitcd  States  Oovernrnent  survey  was 
made  in  the  Lake  Superior  coiintrv,  any  mineral  values 
that  were  in  evidenee  along  the  survey  lines  were  faith- 
fully refM.rted.  There  was  not  mueh  value  then  to 
tempt  them  not  to  do  so,  because  the  eountry  was  new 
and  without  transportation  facilities  and  generally  un- 
developed. 

Since  that  time  a  great  <leal  of  imjMirtant  geological 
work  has  been  done  by  the  (Jovernment,  and  by  the 
States  of  Michigan.  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota  and 
others.  This  work  has  had  particular  economical  pur- 
poses. 

Such  distinguished  names  as  Douglas  Houghton, 
Brooks  and  Pumpelly.  Charles  Wright,  Irving,  Sra\the, 
Lane,  Winchell,  Chamberlain,  Seaman,  Van  Hise, 
Leith,  Hotchkiss.  Merriam,  Allen,  Coleman,  Miller  and 
others  are  familiar  to  those  who  are  interested.  At  a 
time  when  most  of  these  men  could  have  turned  their 
knowledge  into  money,  they  have  been  ethical  to  an 
extent  that  is  most  praiseworthy.  I  do  not  know  one  of 
these  who  t(M)k  advantage  of  his  chance  to  make  a  profit ; 
not  a  single  quack  among  them. 

Dr.  K.  C.  Allen  was  the  state  geologist  while  I  was 
governor  of  Michigan.  I  asked  him  why  he  did  not 
endeavor  to  tra«'e  the  Gogebic  liange  across  the  Wis- 
consin boundary  southward.  To  the  west  across  the 
Montreal  River,  the  Gogebic  Range  takes  the  name  of 
the  Penoka.  It  has  not  yet  been  very  productive  of 
commercial  ore  bodies.  I  thought  that  to  the  south  or 
southwest  of  Sunday  Lake  and  Wakefield  there  might 
be  values.  Dr.  Allen  had  been  thinking  along  the  same 
line  and  had  even  done  a  little  work.  lie  went  into  the 
field  work  there  more  eagerly. 

Soon   he   was   aftprojichcd    by    Chicago  land   owners 


164 


TIIK  IKON   IirXTER 


who  haH  the  title  to  a  wide  area  under  examination. 
J)r.  Allen  came  to  me  at  once  and  asked  me  to  advise 
him  what  to  dn.  He  ^reatlv  wisheil  to  see  sueh  drill- 
iufx  done  as  would  exjtosc  the  formation,  hut  he  did  not 
wish  to  en^aj:e  in  jirivate  work  for  others  while  cm- 
ployed  hy  the  J^tate;  nor  did  he  desire  direetly  or  indi- 
rectly to  <:ive  data  that  iK-lonjred  to  all  tlie  people  of  the 
State  to  these  few  persons,  in  advance  of  his  rejwrts, 
which  would  convey  the  knowledge  to  the  puhlic. 

I  told  him  to  talk  the  matter  over  with  the  land 
owners  and  see  if  he  rould  not  fjet  them  to  do  drilling 
that  would  he  of  value  to  Iwth  the  public  and  them- 
selves.     He  succeeded  in  this. 

The  same  (juesticm  nuist  have  come  to  other  state 
geologists  many  times.  Their  uniform  attittide  of  un- 
selHslmess  and  fidelity  has  impressed  me  deeply,  and 
has  helped  me  to  higher  planes  of  thought.  Their  fine 
character  has  not  been  kuowTi  or  appreciated  by  the 
public  at  large. 


CHAPTER  XIX 


fJREAT  LEAN  orTCROPPlNfi  OK   IRON  ORK   CXSEEN  UNDEB 
THE    VERY    EYES    OF    THE    WOHI.D 

THERE  is  not  in  the  whole  world  a  shore  line 
more  interesting;  than  that  of  the  north  coast  of 
Lake  Superior.  Black  and  hrown  and  green 
and  gray  and  red  cliffs  jniard  there  with  as  niucli  im- 
portance as  though  they  were  true  continental  shelves. 
At  intervals  ero\\iiing  peaks,  like  Capo  Choyye  and 
Xoble  Promontory,  stand  uj)  like  titanic  watch  towers. 
f'hoyyp  and  Gimjnniun,  as  they  are  called  commonly 
by  the  few  fishermen  and  Indians  alongshore,  supply  a 
clew  to  the  classical  types  of  men  who  gave  them  name. 
Choyye  was  Capuchin,  and  the  other  was  Rabelais' 
monster.  Behind  Gargantua  is  Pantagruel,  never  men- 
tioned by  the  habitants.  Just  above  they  are  better  ac- 
(piainted  with  Menebozho  and  his  wife  and  two  dogs. 
Xever  passes  an  Indian,  whether  ifajinutin,  Wauboosch 
or  Xishishinawog  or  Bill  Waiskai's  grandfather,  who 
does  not  place  tobacco  on  the  stone  lap  of  the  Indian 
god,  next  in  jx)wer  to  Kitchee  Manido.  I  have  seen 
them  do  it;  sometimes  hungrily  and  regretfully,  because 
tobacco  is  tobacco  among  them.  But  if  perchance  co- 
incidence would  note  some  evidence  of  the  pleasure  of 
the  Chippewa  Sphinx,  such  as  the  lessening  of  a  gale, 
or  the  arrival  of  a  breeze  after  days  of  doldrums,  the 
stoical  visage  of  the  devotee  becomes  almost  a  smiling 
mask. 

165 


1  ;l 

I 


IW 


THK  ii:()\  jrrxTKR 


TliP  watfTs  of  [,akc  Slip.  ii,.i-  ;irc  the  coldest  and  the 
l>iiri>f  ill  the  world.  11..1  ev.u  excepting'  Lake  Haikal,  in 
Sil.eria,  and  in  flieir  ccaiiie--.  tliat  inii>t  !><•  .seen  to  be 
realized,  tliey  otl'er  flu  ^■^eafe-t  po-^il.le  eonfra-t  to  the 
iiiiirkv,  >iekeniiii:,  li"t  intiiMnial  waters  of"  Victoria  Nv- 
an/.a.  the  only  body  of  fre^h  water  that  rivals  it  in  size 
and  that  only  in  surface  area. 

Iiivers   and   creeks   hurtle  down    from  the  heiirlit  of 
hind,   which    is   from   seventy-live   to  one   hundred  and 
fifty  miles  northward,  as  thoiii:h  <_'lad  to  ocape  from  the 
.salt  demon-;  of  Hud-on   Hay  ami  Arctic  Ocean.      Tlie-e 
rivers  supply  natural  hatcheries  f(.r  hrook  trout.     This 
lias  ffiveii  Superior,  from   Xcpi^oii  to  I>ateliewaun<r.  a 
l)epiirpled    reputation     aiimti-r    -port-men    everywhere. 
In  the  streani<  and  alon^  the  rocks  the  trout  tishin^'  is 
unsurpa-sed.      rerhap<  the  rock  ti^hini:  otf.'rs  the  In-st 
.'^port.      Little  jair^ed  hays  til],,!  witli  talus  make  .slia<I- 
owy  j.laces  where  the  >hy  fish.s  may  hide.      Henche.s  of 
rock  drop  olF  into  many  crystal   fathoms,  and  in  their 
Mackeiied  <Tacks  lurk  old  speckled  kiiiirs  that  rise  to  flies 
eairerly,  and  would  rather  tiirht  than  eat.     Olivines  and 
epidotes   make   ll-ors   of  verde  anti.pie.   and   pegniatitr 
shows  red  as  hlood  above  and  al-o  beneath  the  waters. 
Columnar   basalts,   some    lyiiiir   like  conled    wood   and 
others  erect  as  the  (iiant's  Causeway,  occupy  what  were 
once  crevasses  in  the  irranite  <rn''iss  and  syenite  before 
tlie  molten  lava  filled  the  world-makinjr  mold.     Beach 
line  upon   beach    line,   terra.'cd.   mark   the  recession  of 
the  contents  of  the  earth's  <:re;.rest  basin  of  sweet  water. 
rndernoath    the    b.nilders    of    these    beaches    icy    cold 
streamlets,  from  some  sprinir  or  nearliy  rocky  pool,  flow 
into  the  lake  with  much  ,i;uri::linir  elc*'.      Sometimes  these 
unseen  laufrhiiii:  waters  are  iMtisferous,  and  one  i.s  called 
.\i  •  V  Kivcr.      The  l;!-t   ir-e  belt  disturbed  nianv  of  the 


OUTCROPPING  OF  IKOX 


167 


ancient  boaches  and  pushed  the  botildrrs  into  houps.  jtt 


ri;;lit  aii^'lcs  to  the  lake.  Ilk 


WllK 


■1.  tl 


<■  Ml  iiianv  lateral 


iiioraiiie 


lev  are  not. 


Hiero   is   not   a   lirnisc  nlnnir  linndrcds  of  miles  of 

>liore.      It  is  a  wihj  l,ri;cl,t  land  in  flu-  summer;  cieatli 

"II  all  sides  in  the  winter.      K'(M.k-«'mhraeed  harln.rs  are 

af  intervals  of  twelve  to  twenty  miles.      M(K)se  and  ear- 

iIk.u   and   red  deer.    In-ar  an.j   wolv.s  and   wolverines, 

heaver.  ott<T  and  sahh-  i,re  in  the  hinterland,  and  hirds 

iind   hares  and   little  red  s-niirrels  and  a   few  sinpnjr 

jrophers.     Summer    eompanions    are    hiaek    flies    and 

nios(|uitoes  and  midirets.      P.anksian  pine  on  the  slopes, 

^l)ni('e  and  halsam  in  the  valleys,  hi-h  htish  eranlw^rries. 

sand   cherries,    him-   berries  and    Indian    plums    (shad 

hush  iK-rrv).  white  hirch,  mountain  ash.  pinus  strohiis, 

tamarack,  black  currants,  red  rasplierries,  pin  cherries', 

>kunk  berries,  juniper,  yew,  seven  bark  wood  an<l  a  lot 

more  veiretati(»n  prows,  and  berries  ripen  in  the  fleeting 

period  h»>tween  snow  and  snow. 

It  IS  a  wild  race  between  summer  life  and  winter 
death.  lee  does  not  thaw  in  the  woodhiud  lakes  until 
•fune.  Tripe  de  r.H-he  decorates  the  barren  rcx-kv 
tumuli  and  is  sought  by  caribou,  and  when  famine 
shows  its  lH)ny  clutches  man  also  uses  this  rock  tripo 
lichen  for  f(K)d. 

Some  day  no  traveled  person  will  be  content  until  lie 
has  seen  the  north  shore  of  hake  Superior.  Xow  onlv 
a  tew  fish  l)oats  ply  there,  and  to  vi<it  the  reiriori.  one 
must  either  take  these  or  fit  out  an  Indian  ^laekinac 
l)oat  and  crew,  or  have  his  own  yacht.  Inaccessible  as 
It  is,  the  north  shore  is  visited  by  a  good  many  each 
season,  and  sometimes  thousands  go  to  the  often-crowded 
Xei>ii:«';i.  The  best  stretch  is  the  long  one  between 
Nei)igon  Bay  and  liachewaung  Bav.     An  ideal  wav  is 


I 


r    tl 


m;« 


TIIK   Ii:()\   IllMKli 


t(»  coiist  jilniiir  flu-  ^Ikih'  ill  ii  Miirkiiiac  iMiiit,  cainpiti^ 
Hinl  tishin^r  jn  tlic  niuntli*  nf  llif  iiiaiiv  river:*,  or  where 
aftriii'ti\ »■  ciivc.-.  lure  "Hic. 

|{<M'k  li-liiii^'  is  the  iiii»f  lii.\iiriiiii>  and  artistic  way  to 
take  fnmt.  'i'lic  nxl  iiiu>t  liavt-  jilcntv  of  hai-klKiiie. 
A  two  and  a  half  to  a  four  oiiiicf  rod  will  jrivr  satisfac- 
tion on  a  •'trfani,  hut  off  the  rock-  of  Lake  SuiM'rior  a 
rod  wei^rhin/.'  from  live  to  six  ounce-  i-  hetter.  Seated 
in  ati  Indian  Utat  of  ^<H)d  size  and  jiienty  of  free  iMiard, 
liccaiise  suninier  s(|ualls  are  tierce  and  sudden,  with  one 
Indian  to  row,  and  a  pannacheeiiee  helle  leader  and 
Montreal  dro|>|ier,  the  j^ods  of  joy  are  awake.  The  In- 
dian, a  ChipiM'wa  and  jirol)alily  from  th«'  trilK-  at  Hache- 
wauiifT,  rows  slowly  and  you  cast  towards  tlie  r<K-ks, 
The  water  is  as  clear  as  plate  <rlass  and  you  can  see  the 
fish;  see  them  dart  into  dark  places  under  the  rocks 
when  they  are  friirhteiied,  and  also  see  them  plainly 
cnoufrh  when  they  tower  toward  the  surface,  not  unlike 
a  swallow  sweepiiiir  in  midair,  as  they  rise  to  the  lly, 
swooping  ofT  if  unhooked,  or  making  such  a  gamy 
tight  if  caught.  Artfulness  is  necessary,  and  one  nmst 
he  prepared  to  mak<'  a  cast  of  forty  to  sixty  feet  and 
drop  his  tlies  as  lightly  as  falling  moth  wings  that  do 
not  splash. 

I  have  traversed  every  foot  of  the  Lake  Superior 
shore  clear  around,  liock  study  on  the  north  shore  is 
more  interesting  than  fishing.  I  am  going  to  tell  you 
of  tw<»  interesting  shore  exposures.  If  \,<\i  are  yoimg 
and  amhitious  perhaps  you  will  l(M)k  them  up  and  trace 
out  their  meaning.  I  know  of  only  three  other  persons, 
one  of  then  Justice  Joseph  Hall  Steere,  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Michigan,  who  know  them  hy  name,  and  they 
have  their  information  from  me.  This,  notwithstand- 
ing the  fact  that  these  rocks  have  been  seen  by  thou- 


il'     ■  3 
^-     if 


OUTCKOPPINCi  OF  IHON 


169 


sands.  Dozens  of  titncs  1  huvi-  rowed  past  them  with 
tin-  late  Alfri'd  N'ol.lc,  who  was  an  engineer  of  the 
I'cnnsvlvania  tunnels  and  snhways  at  New  V'ork,  and 
wlio  was  largely  re<|K.nsil.|c  fur  the  deeision  to  make  the 
Panama  Canal  a  liK-k  canal  and  not  a  sea  level  eanal. 
^Ir.  Xohic  was  one  of  the  ni..st  ahle  of  Anierieaiis.  He 
was  a  <'harminfr  ••am|)  mate  ami  most  olism-ant.  Time 
after  time  we  vi-iterl  ntie  uf  tlie-se  rcH-ks  together  bo- 
eanse  it  is  on  a  famons  tishin-;  stretch,  and  he  often 
went  to  it  alone  and  with  others,  hut  lie  never  rcoog- 
ni/ed  it.  Kiich  seasftn  I  was  determined  to  tell  hitn, 
and  then  I  would  U-  tempted  to  wait  and  |)ermif  him  to 
have  the  satisfactimi  of  diM'overv.  I  went  otT  to  Africa 
and  Madapisear  for  a  couple  of  years,  and  while  I  was 
away  Mr.  \ohle  took  the  lonj:  rest. 

Those  who  tish  the  north  shore  know  Brule  Ilarbo" 
and  Indian  Ilarln.r  as  well  as  they  know  their  own  hack 
yard,  if  they  possess  a  hack  yard.  Just  below  Brulo 
Harbor  del)ouehes  Old  Woman's  River  in  a  bay,  the 
bottom  of  which  is  covered  with  small  boulders  toward 
Brule,  and  sand  carried  out  by  the  river  on  the  other 
side.  The  Ixiulder  patch  offers  fine  trout  up  to  four 
pounds  and  on  the  other  side  of  the  sand,  where  the 
cliff  rocks  Ix-frin,  and  where  for  years  lay  the  wreck 
of  the  (lolsjiif,  a  well-knowii  trapdy  of  the  shore, 
trout  of  five  and  six  pimtids  nniy  Ih"  killed.  Xoble 
Promontory,  with  a  simian's  face  when  caupht  in  right 
alijmment.  exults  the  landscape.  Alxmt  halfway  to 
Indian  Harbor  is  majestic  Cape  Choyye,  and  the  fish- 
injr  all  the  way  is  unsurpassed.  Tlu're  is  not  a  harbor, 
evea  f-.r  snnill  boats,  In-twcH-n  Brule  and  Indian  Harbor. 
Just  after  leaving;  Choyye,  iMnind  down,  quite  a  deep 
bay  sets  in.  On  the  lower  side  a  well  defined  sand  apit, 
covered  with  stunted  birch  and  conifers,  makes  a  con- 


III 


<ii 


170 


TIIK  IRON'  nrXTER 


trast  to  tlK>  mile-:  ><f  frnwiiiriir  iK'ncllatids  on  fitlirr  sido. 
At  till-  1»<»tr(irii  of  iliis  hay.  jii<r  alxn-c  a  shflviiiir  Ih-ucIi 
wIhtc  Justice  Strcif  and  I  were  once  wrecked  l>y  a  tidal 
wave,  a  little  river  tluw-  in.  It  is  tlie  (nitlet  of  a  chain 
of  pretty  lakelets.  K.xactly  (tj.po-ite  the  month  of  this 
stn-aiii.  ami  ciuicealiiitr  it  fnnii  the  view  of  a  y)rrson 
rowiriir  hy.  is  a  hi;.'.  |>ieMires(|ne  re<l  rock.  It  is  simply 
called  the  "  ndrock  "  and  i-  a  landmark.  Standin<r 
iimre  than  a  Inindn  cl  f.ct  luLih  and  some  hundn'ds  lonj; 
and  wide,  it  i<  as  interestirir  ii>  a  ^Iaj_'na  Mater  when 
you  recoiriii/*'  it  as  hematite  iron  ore.  That  it  is  very 
lean,  so  far  as  percentaire  of  metallic  iron  content  is 
(•oncerned,  is  true,  which  does  not  detract  from  its  inter- 
i'st  and  even  value  too.  when  considered  as  evidenoo. 

.\s  one  faces  down  stream  on  the  ri<:ht  wall  of  the 
creek,  a  short  distance  from  this  hematite  exposure,  one 
can  see  a  hiir  shuwinir  of  carhoiiate  of  iron  —  siderite. 
The  district  near  these  has  not  heeii  carefully  examined. 
For  years  I  have  hoped  to  tind  time  to  do  so,  and  only 
tell  of  it  now  as  my  coiitrihution  in  part  payment  for 
what  1  have  learned  from  unseltish  jreoloirists  and  sur- 
veyors. Somewhere  not  far  distant  should  he  found 
valuahle  di'posits  of  iron  ore,  so  convenient  for  trans- 
portation as  to  he  unusually  desirahle. 

i'roceed  with  me  down  shore  to  Indian  Harbor,  on 
around  thi"  point  and  amonji  the  islands,  whose  water- 
worn  caviTiis  contain  ajrates,  chlorastrolites,  thompson- 
ites,  ealcites  and  amethysts  to  he  had  for  the  frathering, 
to  Garpintua.  One  passes  within  a  foot  of  Menohozho 
and  his  wife  and  dojrs  if  he  cares  to.  Sail  on  past  the 
hidden  harhor  that  nuirks  (iar^'antua,  the  entrance  to 
which  is  closed  !)y  a'  island  like  a  cork  in  the  neck  of  a 
bottle.  There  is  a  liirhthouse  on  the  island.  A  couple 
of  miles  below  the  liirhthouse  one  conies  to  a  red  shore 


OUTCROPPING  OF  IRON 


171 


lino.  It  is  proniinrnt  for  a  milo  or  moro  perhaps.  I 
have  never  measured  the  distanee.  All  these  reddish 
rooks  "  are  lean   hematite  ore.      If  thev  were  to  he 


found  on  the  A 


merioan  side  it  would  oause  a  sensat 


and  lonjr  ajro  thev  would  have  l)een  owned  h.v  trusts 
I   cannot   easily   aocount   for   the   reason    whv  th 


lib 


■ally  wond<'iful  outcrops  are  not  known.  I  took  Kirk 
Alexander  and  Tom  ;^^ay,  of  Detroit,  to  see  the  hiir  red 
rook  first  doscriln-d  and  told  them  ahout  if,  and  showed 
them  the  siderite  in  the  creek.  Only  Justice  Steere  has 
been  with  me  when  I  visited  the  meaninjrful  iron  ore 
shore  line  helow  Garpintua.  Once  he  sailed  past  it 
with  ^lichel  ("adotte.  a  north  shore  j^iide  and  now  in  the 
Ilapjiv  Iluiititifr  Grounds. 

^lichel  said,  "  See  rocks,  not  rocks,  different  from 
rocks." 

He  tried  to  tell  the  Justice  somethinjr  but  did  not 
succeed,  and  it  was  my  pleasure  to  impart  the  secret  to 
him.  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  expect  that  there  are 
richer  concentrations  near  in  a  region  of  such  extensive 
lean  ore  exposures. 

An  iron  formation  skirts  the  Lake  Superior  north 
shore  for  hundreds  of  miles.  Not  much  work  has  been 
done  along  it  because  it  is  in  Canada,  where  the  mining 
laws  act  as  both  guardian  and  deterrent.  Also  interest 
in  this  field  has  been  small  because  upon  the  American 
side  there  has  been  enough  ore  to  supj)ly  tho  demand; 
ore  of  fine  quality  and  attractive  economic  location. 

Two  shipping  mines  on  the  north  shore,  the  Helen 
and  Magpie,  near  Michipicofen,  have  proved  valuable. 
Quite  a  little  is  known  alx)ut  the  Antikr)kan  range  in  the 
Port  Arthur  district,  and  enough  exploratory  work  has 
been  done  at  different  places  to  warrant  the  belief  that 
the  north  shori-  will  be  highly  productive. 


172 


THE  IROX  HUXTER 


Anothor  iron  oro  rcpon  of  the  north  shore  that  is  lit- 
tle known  cotnparativelv,  lies  adjacent  to  the  Pukoso 
River,  a  half  day's  row  alnn-e  the  ^fiehipicoten.  A  lit- 
tle work  has  been  done  aloiip  the  Pukoso  hv  Indians, 
trappt-rs  and  hunlHTJaeks,  which  is  as  frood  as  saying 
that  not  niueh  has  heen  accomplished.  There  is  an  ex- 
tensive forniatifiii  here  of  handed  niajrnetite.  Some  of 
the  bands  are  <]uite  wide  and  rich.  One  day  these  ores 
will  he  won  by  eleetric  concentration  as  at  M(K)se  ^^oun- 
tain,  Dunderland  and  Lulea.  Here  the  land  may  be 
staked.  Most  of  the  few  claims  that  were  taken  alonpj 
the  Pnkoso  have  been  forfeited  becanse  of  failure  to  ful- 
fill the  re(iuirements  of  the  Canadian  Miniufi  laws. 

^^•en  more  attractive  than  the  Pukoso  country  is  the 
hinterhuid  at  Otter  Head  and  abnve  and  below.  I  have 
s((en  frood-lookinj;  surface  sliowiiiiis  over  (piite  a  wide 
stretch  of  country  in  this  rcirioii,  and  believe  confidentlv 
that  the  future  will  reveal  iron  ore  and  other  mineral 
values. 

And  ;o  on  I  could  tell  such  a  long  story  of  the  attrac- 
tions and  prospects  of  the  Canadian  north  shore.  It  is 
a  way  that  every  age  has,  wherein  young  men  contem- 
poraries sigh  and  state  that  there  are  ni)t  as  nnmy  op- 
portunities now  as  when  th(Mr  fathers  were  Ixiys.  For- 
ever will  this  be  true.  The  young  man  alert  with  in- 
dustry and  ambition  will  have  more  chances  than  he  can 
take  advantage  of;  the  other  kind  would  not  know  it  or 
avail  himself  if  he  were  thrown  among  a  million  oppor- 
tunities. I  would  not  urge  the  young  man  to  money 
grub  who  is  not  compelled  to;  rather  let  him  give  of 
himself  to  society  in  >ome  useful  way  as  Th(>odore  Roose- 
velt has  done.  All  of  us  cannot  be  Ronsevelts.  btit  all 
of  us  can  do  our  best,  which  will  be  something  anvhow. 

To  the  young  man  who  has  not  and  must  have,  in 


OUTCKOPPING  OF  IROX 


173 


order  to  steam  liinisclf  up,  the  north  is  calling;  the  west 
i.s  bec'koniiifr;  the  soil  is  coaxing.  Everywhere  masters 
are  in  search  of  trustworthy,  energetic,  loyal  youth. 
Never  was  there  such  an  era  of  plenty  to  Ik-  plucked  by 
all  who  will  bestir  themselves  out  of  the  common  ruts  of 
sloth  and  indolence.  What  a  measure  of  boys  I  b«ive 
gotten  when  1  have  had  half  a  hundred  of  them  in  the 
wilderness  with  me,  and  have  offered  a  reward  to  all 
who  would  bt^at  me  to  the  bathing  place  in  the  morning. 
Out  of  fifty  not  more  than  one  or  two  would  race  with 
nie  to  the  creek  or  lake  near  camp.  When  we  had  to 
break  the  ice  in  the  late  autumn  in  order  to  bathe  fre- 
(luently  not  one  boy  in  a  hundred  would  do  it.  For 
near  forty  years  now  I  have  lived  in  the  robust  north 
and  in  winter  I  have  taken  a  run  naked  and  rolled  in 
the  snow  every  morning  before  breakfast,  when  in  the 
woods,  say  at  four  o'clock.  In  all  that  time  I  have 
known  of  only  one  young  man  who  would  follow  my  ex- 
ample, without  being  ridiculed  into  it  or  compelled  iu 
some  way. 

There  are  only  two  driving  forces:  one  is  necessity 
and  the  other  is  love,  and  the  latter  is  best.  One  may 
have  love  of  work  without  necessity,  and  the  effort  is 
noble  that  is  thus  made.  Necessity  and  love  together 
beget  twice-born  offspring. 


CHAPTKH  XX 


INTO    Tirir    IIKART    OK    TlIK    AKCIIC    LAPLAND    WIIEKE 

TUK    -MYSTKKIKH    AKK    ATM  \K|.    To    THE 

MUFFLED    FOOTFALLS    OF    SILENCE 

OXE  winter  nrar  tlio  closo  of  the  last  century,  T 
found  nn-self  almie  in  Kurope  cnira-rcd  in  visit- 
ing iron   ore   Helds.      1    started    in   the   Tnited 
Kingdom  and  then  proceeded  to  Sp„in,  where  I  f,.und 
the  old  Bilbao  district  of  consuming  interest.      I  did  not 
tarry  long  in  Italy  Init  proceeded  into  nernianv  and  on 
into  Russia,  and  over  the  Trais.      Douhlini:  hack  I  went 
into    Finland   at    IFelsiiigfors.     X,,rth    to    riealM.r-r    I 
found  good  enough  railroad  conveniences,  with  wmnen 
for  sleeping  car  attendants.      At  I'leahorg  I  decided  to 
travel  on  north  to  Tornea,  at  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of 
Bothnia,  and  around  the  gulf  to  Lulea  in  Sweden.     As 
usual,  not  two  persons  told  me  the  same  distance.     The 
map  route  measured   ahout   three  hundred   miles,   but 
there  was  no  road,  and  all  the  way  until  we  reached 
llaparanda  a  direct  course  would  he  impossible.     Mv 
destination  was  the  (Jellivare,  Kirunavaara  and  Luosa- 
vaara  iron  districts  in  Lapland,  all  within  the  Arctic 
zone.      It  would  have  been  easier  and  «piicker  to  have 
doubled  back  to  Ab."..  thence  to  have  gone  across  the  Bal- 
tic through  the  beautiful  Aiiland  Islands  to  Stockholm, 
and  north  through    I'psala  to  I.ulea  and  (lellivare  by 
rail.     But  I  had  a  chance  to  go  among  the  Lapps  and 
traverse  an  Arctic  reirion  that  is  visited  almo<;t  never 

174 


THE  HEART  OF  THE  AKTIC  LAPLAND     175 


in  the  winter,  and  seldom  enough  in  the  sununer.     It 
was  middle  Februarv.     The  weather  was  below  zero  all 
the  time,  and  some  of  the  time  far  below.     There  was 
plenty  of  snow.     I  engaged  several  Lapps  and  enough 
reindeer   to  draw   me  and   them,   ha\ing  at   the  time 
no  idea  how  many  would  Ix'  recjuired.     To  my  com- 
plete surj)rise  1  learned  that  men.  women  and  children 
would   all   ge     ,ith   me.     It   was   interesting.     Rarely 
will    J.aj»p    f;  wiilifs    permit    themselves    to    be    sepa- 
rated.    When  they  get  down  to  brass  taeks  the  women 
are  the  rulers.     1  made  all  of  my  arrangements  with  a 
squat,  fat,  little  head  man  or  chief,  but  I  noticed  that 
he  engaged    in    frequent   consultations   with   his   wife. 
Tlu'  greater  number  of  them  are  Lutherans  and  good 
and    kindly,    but   an    exceedingly    independent    people. 
Rt'.sembling  the  Esquimo  in  physique  they  possess  a  bet- 
t(  r  intellect,  and  temj)eranientally  are  more  like  the  Ka- 
chins  of  Upper  Burma  or  the  Thibetans.     I  am  just 
alK)ut  six  feet  tall.     There  was  not  a  La[)p  in  my  party 
that  could  not  walk  erect  under  my  arm  extended  hori- 
zontally. 

^lou,  women  and  children  are  fat  and  greasy,  and  as 
they  seldom  bathe  they  are,  in  a  sense,  dirty.  Such 
habits  of  life  as  they  have  could  not  endure  in  a  land 
less  clean  and  wholesome.  In  all  Lapland  there  is  not 
an  unclean  thing  except  the  Lapps,  and  really  I  soon 
forgot  to  think  of  them  as  being  dirty,  even  with  the 
cotitrasf  they  made  to  the  sweet  air  and  the  immaculate 
snow.  As  a  people  they  are  rich  and  independent. 
Their  government  is  tribal,  and  to  a  considerable  extent 
it  is  communal. 

There  had  been  a  famine  in  the  north  Baltic  and 
Bothnian  regions,  and  zealous  persons,  who  too  often 
make    it  their  profession,   had  been   coliccfing  money 


176 


THE  IKON  irrXTER 


from  liberal  onuntrios  fnr  their  relief.  None  of  this 
was  desired  hy  the  LH|)ps  or  aeeepted  hv  them.  There 
was  no  f)overt_v  anion^'  them,  and  while  their  standards 
of  living  are  not  hiirh.  they  never  are  in  want  of  neees- 
saries.  I'rofierty  is  not  htld  in  cuminon  exaetly,  hut 
may  l)e  used  in  eoninion  in  ease  of  need,  J  saw  one 
<'hief  Lapji  of  whom  it  was  said  that  he  owned  twenty 
thousand  reindeer.  He  was  a  Lapp  millionaire  hut  did 
not  conduct  a  reimlcer  trust. 

Wealth  in  Lapland  is  measured  in  reindeer.  Thev 
are  everythiiiir,  and  when  comf)ared  with  ;rold  they  take 
on  a  warmth  of  value  that  is  appealiiifr.  The  Lapp 
drinks  the  milk  of  the  reitideer.  eats  its  ile<h.  makes 
elothinj.'  of  its  skin;  weapons,  implements,  furniture 
and  harness  of  its  hone.  He  even  uses  its  hair  for  nutnv 
purposes  and  the  sinews  and  visr-era  are  very  valuahle. 
Fancy  heiiif:  ahle  to  do  this  with  a  ehiiiik  of  L'old.  A 
drink  of  milk  of  pild  would  Im'  a  nifH-kery.  and  if  vou 
do  not  Ix'lieve  it  just  take  a  swallow  of  the  delusive 
(ierman  ijoldwasser  heverajre.  The  ydlow  metal  is  onlv 
a  eonvenienee.  Jt  has  no  real  value  and  is  only  a  meas- 
ure of  or  representative  of  value.  It  is  a  ueeessitv.  no 
doubt,  but  it  is  also  concentrated  seltishness,  and  gives 
people  an  incurable  disease  that  permits  a  few  to  con- 
trol the  wealth  of  the  world  to  an  extent  greater  than  is 
for  the  good  of  mankind.  Robinson  Crusoe  could  do 
nothing  with  gold,  but  lu>  eould  have  doi:e  famously 
with  a  reindeer. 

The  T.apps  almosi  worship  them,  but  do  not  treat  them 
with  the  demonstrations  of  endearment  that  a  Bedouin 
lavishes  upon  his  she  camel,  only  because  that  is  not 
their  nature.  In  the  winter  they  feed  their  workinir 
reindeer  on  rock  lichens  or  reindeer  moss.  Thev  are 
kept  in  the  lowlands  rmd  valleys  in  the  winter.    Dur- 


TIIK  IIKAliT  OF  TIIK  AHTir  LAIM.AXD     177 


in-  tliu  short  soasoii  of  siinmit'r  tboy  arc  horded  at  an 
elevation  that  insures  (-(m)!,  if  not  cold  weather  and  even 
Miow,  for  they  die  off  if  subjected  to  warmth.  In  this 
respect  they  are  like  the  llama  that  will  not  thrive  iu 
most  of  the  Andean  lands  Ixlow  an  altitude  of  two  or 
three  thousand  feet.  The  Lapps  themselves  fare  better 
in  the  bi^bhiiids  in  summer  and  there  thev  «ro. 

Christmas  is  their  frreat  feast  day.  It  '  ;ilso  their 
funeral  season.  They  bury  their  dead  once  a  year. 
I'res(Tved  in  snow  and  ice  during  the  year,  corpses  are 
disinterred  from  their  frijrid  temporary  mausoleum  at 
Christmas  and  given  a  ceremonial,  final  burial. 

A  reindeer  sledge  is  .piite  exactly  like  a  Iloosier  hog 
trough.     It  is  hollowed  out  of  a  log  about  four  feet, 
sometimes  four  and  a  half  feet,  long  and  rounding,  log- 
shaped  on  the  bottom.     This  causes  the  thing  to  roll 
'•ver  if  given  any  kind  of  a  chance.     To  acpiire  the 
art  of  riding  in  one  is  a  similar  experience  to  learning 
to  ride  a  bicycle,  and  something  like  learning  to  swim. 
A  six-foot  body  crumpled  into  a  four-foot  sledge  anc*. 
'•.liked  with  furs  is  at  first  a  clumsy  arrangement,  but 
It  is  possible  for  it,  as  I  found,  t.)  k'come  a  part  of 
rhe  sledge  when  the  feat  of  balancing  comes  to  one.     It 
does  come,  for  all  of  a  sudden  your  mental  gyroscope  is 
automatic,  and  yoti  do  not  know  how  you  have  done  it. 
A  sledge  may  be  drawn  by  one,  two  or  three  reindeer 
with  spare  and  bare  animals  trotting  behind  or  along- 
Mde.     Th.'re   was  never  less  than   two  hitched  to  my 
sledge.     This  was  done  by  fastening  a  reindeer  thong, 
a  Boer  would  call  it  a  riem,  to  the  bow  of  the  sledge,' 
passing  it  between  the  legs  of  the  reindeer  and  tving  it 
to  a  hames  at  the  breast  of  the  base  of  the  neck  and 
below.     These  hames  were  made  of  reindeer  ribs  and 
titled  snugly.     They  neser  seemed  to  gall.     The  second 


178 


THE  IRO\  IirXTKU 


reindeer  was  iittiiehed  taiHlerii  l>.v  fusteninj;  the  single 
tiifi  to  the  first  one,  jtist  Iwliiiid  the  haiues.  And  so  on 
the  third  wouhl  he  tandetii  al-o,  Ileadinen  at  ccreiiio- 
iiies  sonietiiiics  have  fifty  nr  evr-ii  more  reindeer  in  a 
tandem  team,  and  then  it  is  not  iiiieommon  for  several 
sU'dfjes  to  Ix?  tied  tojiether,  one  In-hiiid  the  other. 

Th(?  food  and  its  preparation  was  verv  interesting. 
The  headman  had  several  pots  of  iron  and  tin.  Pot 
hooks  of  l)one  and  l)one  spoons  were  common  to  all. 
Quite  a  few  of  them,  hoth  women  and  men,  carried 
crude,  home-made  knives;  th<'re  were  also  skinnin/ 
knives  of  lM)ne,  M_v  headman  luul  a  little,  solid  silver, 
home-made  pipe,  not  much  hijrger  than  the  .lapanesc  use. 
He  kept  this  fjoin;;  with  a  mixture  of  cotTee  and  tohacco. 
Kvervhody  smoked,  mostly  hone  pipes,  if  they  liad  the 
"  makin<,'s."  These  pipes,  and  particularly  the  silver 
ones,  would  fret  very  hot,  hut  the  Lapps  seeniinirly  were 
unmindful  of  this.  The  chief's  cookinjr  was  all  done  in 
pots.      Fuel  had  to  he  carried  and  was  scant. 

Some  of  the  others  cooked,  or  rather  heated  their 
meat,  hy  placiujr  hot  stones  in  hirch-hark  huckets  con- 
taining water.  No  stop  of  any  kind  was  made  without 
boiling  the  coffee  pot.  It  was  carried  hy  hand,  and  as 
its  contents  were  water  and  milk  and  coffee,  it  was  han- 
dled carefully.  For  seasoning  the  coff<e  the  Lapps  use 
salt  and  pepper  in.stead  of  sugar;  not  mucli  salt,  hut 
plenty  of  pepper.  All  hands  drank  out  of  the  coffee 
pot,  using  it  as  a  loving  cup.  There  was  always  plenty 
of  hair  in  the  coffee.  This  kept  it  fmm  slopping  out 
as  it  was  carried,  and  also  compelled  one  to  strain  it 
through  his  teeth  in  order  to  drink  with  comfort.  The 
Paragtiayans  have  a  In'tter  way  in  taking  their  yt^rha 
mate.  They  suck  it  through  a  stem  to  which  a  little 
woveu  wi<'ker  sieve  is  attaclicd. 


TIIK  ITKART  OK  TlIK  AHTIC  I.AIM.AND     179 


We  also  had  raw,  frozni  fish  for  a  delii-acy.  Tin* 
raw  fish  made  inc  sick  tiiiallv  and  I  gavr  it  up,  since 
which  time  1  have  In-en  unfriendly  even  to  sardellen 
and  kindred  preparatittns.  1  do  not  like  to  Im-  finicky 
al>out  eating',  because  I  have  always  thought  that  it  is  a 
measure  of  mental  hreadtli  and  elasticity.  Notwith- 
standing, I  do  not  like  raw  tish.     Bah  I 

For  bread  we  had  unleavened  cakes  nnide  from  Hour 
and  the  ground  bark  of  the  dwarfed  j)opple  and  birch. 
I  thought  I  could  tell  the  |M»pple  cakes  from  the  birchen 
cakes  by  their  greater  bitterness.  These  cakes  had  been 
baked  for  a  long  time;  weeks,  months  or  years  before,  I 
do  not  know  which. 

At  night  they  would  erect  skin  tepee:;  if  it  was  stormy; 
in  fact,  almost  always  we  put  them  up.  If  the  wiiid 
blew  hard,  snow  would  Ir-  piled  around  the  Inittom.  I 
have  only  (x-eupied  an  igloo  a  few  times,  but  I  have  an 
idea  that  they  are  warmer  than  the  reindeer  skin  house 
used  by  the  Lapp.  Sometimes  I  tried  to  sleep  in  mv 
sledge,  but  I  would  get  cramps  and  would  have  to  dig 
out  and  stretch.  During  the  day  I  often  walked  for  a 
••hange.  Always  while  so  doing  I  would  be  chagrined 
because  I  had  to  make  an  e.\tra  etfort  to  keep  up  with 
the  stride  of  the  reindeer,  and  the  goose  waddle  of  the 
Lapps.  There  were  seventeen  in  the  party,  including 
me.  The  Lapps  were  of  all  sizes  and  se.xes.  There 
was  no  se.K  false  delicacy,  but  social  morals  are  rigidly 
observed. 

The  snow-covered  wastes  were  like  almost  level  plains 
and  the  hardened  surface  made  walking  easy.  We  had 
fourteen  sledges  and  ninety-one  reindeer.  Some  of  the 
animals  were  too  young  to  work  and  some  of  them  were 
used  only  as  milk  cows.  Forage  made  up  the  most  of 
the  cargo.     Fuel  too.     We  had  no  vegetables  of  any 


1 1 

t  m 

Bf. 

i  m 

St  fl 

"  1 

f  1 

180 


TIIK  IIJON    IirXTKIt 


kiml.  Tlic  l,;i|t|i'  and  Ivkitiios  s»«'iii  fn  Ik'  iiiiiiiuiic  to 
scorliiiticiil  iittiirks. 

\V<"  nut  with  nil  iinsnnnoniifitlilc  i)li»tniction:J.  Mak- 
iwis  «liort  cuts  arro-s  t'j<iril»  l(fuii<.'lit  ii«  ii|i  aLMiii>t  wind- 
rows of  ice  and  >now  -omctitrH's  which  forced  dctonrs. 
or  made  nc<_'otiation  more  or  h'ss  exacting.  The  weather 
much  nf  the  lime  wa»  clear  and  cold,  and  in  morninir 
and  evening'  and  at  ni;rht  tlie  air  would  contain  tini'  ice 
particles.  I  liad  -eeii  the  same  conditions  in  the  Lake 
Superior  and  Hu<l-on  Mav  rcL'ions.  W»'  were  fcdlow- 
iiij;  the  Arctic  Circle  at  al)oiit  Htl  north,  varvinj;.  Our 
course  was  at  fir-t  north,  tln-n  nortliwest,  then  west  and 
then  south.  In  the  middle  of  the  day  the  suti  wan 
warTii  and  daz/liiiir.  an<l  I  had  to  protect  my  eyes  from 
snow  hiindness.  The  Lapps  weri'  not  iMtthered  with 
anythinir. 

We  had  a  few  jtairs  of  ski>.  hut  liad  no  use  for  them 
until  we  reached  a  l.a|)p  town  or  winter  encamj)m('iit 
iK'tween  Haukipudas  and  I'uchisjarvi.  They  were  pre- 
purinj;  for  a  hi^  hunt  on  skis  for  wolverines,  the  jrroat 
(•nemy  of  the  younj;  reindeer  and  the  suhject  of  intense 
dislike  hy  tlie  Lapps.  If  I  could  have  done  so,  and  I 
could  not,  I  would  not  have  t  -'d  them  that  tliey  call 
the  people  Wolverines  where  1  lived.  Prohahly  they 
Wi)uld  have  dum|)ed  me  in  a  snow  eave  and  speared  ine 
with  a  dull  hone  spear  and  left  me. 

I  wonder  why  they  call  Mieliifrsin  folk  Wolverines  ^ 
They  are  not  ;i,'luttons,  and  that  animal  was  never  mi- 
merous  in  the  State. 

My  party  joined  the  wolverine  hunt.  A  jrreat  cir- 
cle was  formed  and  the  contraction  of  it  was  achieved 
in  <rood  order,  with  unich  <rurtural  yellinir.  A  lot  of 
wolverines  were  rounded  up.  some  of  which  escaped  the 
steel  and  also  Imne  pitinted  spears.      Twenty-nine  were 


THE  HEAKT  OK  TIIK  AKTIC  LAIM.AND     181 


killrtl.  Tlii.s  \v;is  ciiiiiiv'li  In  Warrant  u  ci'lrliratinri  and 
tcast.  Miicli  |)<'it|>cnd  cotlVc  was  tlniiik  and  rfindcrr 
meat  consunu'd.  'linn'  wen-  .ski  rufi-.s,  rrindccr  rat-rs 
and  sj)»'ar-tlir<i>\inj;  cdntt'sfs. 

It  was  pMid  to  note  tin-  cuniplcti'  abscnci-  uf  al<'nli()li<'s. 
Xot  cvrn  tin-  licadnicu  had  jruns  or  pisttils.  1  noti«*<'d 
that  a  >,'«)«>d  many  nf  the  Lapps  from  farthir  north  had 
a  dan>,'crous-Iookinf,'  wcaiKfti  madt-  from  a  stoin'  tied  with 
a  thong  like  a  slinir.  'I'ho  mck  was  not  supiMist-d  to 
l^ve  tht"  slinj;  when  thrown.  Thi-v  use  it  in  capturing 
ptarniigan  and  for  several  hunting  purjMws. 

I  ntuld  not  tell  vcrv  ru'ariv  how  far  we  traveled  each 
day.  Sonic  days  we  seemed  to  make  g(K)d  marches  and 
ujwin  others  we  would  not  go  as  far.  I  think  the  least 
•iistance  covered  in  a  day  was  ten  miles  and  the  great- 
est prohahly  thirty,  with  an  average  p«rhaps  of  sixteen. 
We  did  not  go  into  Ilaukipudas  where  I  had  expected  to 
check  up.  There  were  several  camps  en  route  but  they 
were  movable  and  temporary.  I  managed  to  rec(,gni/.e 
Simo  and  also  Kemi  and  I  estimated  that  we  should 
soon  arrive  in  Tornca.  In  this  I  was  mistaken,  and  the 
Hrst  thing  I  knew  we  had  passed  it  and  arrived  in  Ila- 
paranda,  from  which  pf)int  there  is  a  marked  road  to 
Lulea  by  way  of  Xederkalix  and  Tornea. 

Tornea  is  at  the  month  of  the  Torne  Elf,  which  flows 
out  of  the  arctic  lake  Torne  Trask.  and  I  had  hojied  to 
see  it.  At  Tornea  our  road,  much  of  it  so  drifted  as  to 
be  totally  unrecognizable,  intersected  a  load  l)etween 
Lulea  and  Gellivare. 

We  had  crossed  a  nunilM^r  of  rivers,  called  johi  in 
Finland  and  elf  in  Swedish.  They  are  considerable 
streams,  as  the  Bothnian  drainage  basin  extends  eight- 
tenths  of  the  way  to  the  Arctic  Ocean,  leaving  only  a 
eoniparativcly  narrow  strip  between  the  height  of  land 


182 


TIIK  IKON  IirXTKR 


and  flm  ncvtm.  TIhti'  nr«'  low  mnnnfaiiis  }M>tw<'»'n  thn 
riviTs.  iiiid  fliiiily  iiifcr-iMT^fil  ;irr  fiinp-s  of  si-rapffv, 
(Iwarfrd  trcos,  iim-fly  hirdics,  hdim'  nf  flicm  I'Xffcdinjj 
a  lici^'lit  i>f  ff-ri  or  twdvr  f<cf.  'I'li.ir  crookcfl.  piarlcd. 
scarred  UAv*  sn>:L'<-*t<«l  L'nntii<-i  or  little,  olil.  dried  up 
.fapiiriese  ineii  and  tlie  dwarfed  tret'-*  tliey  deli^dit  in  ejil- 
tivutiiiir. 

I   did   not  see  rnueli  evidenc f  life,  hut  there  was 

moTv  tliaii  I  expected  to  find  inl;iiid.  'Iliere  are  Arctic 
liares,  foxes,  wolverines,  jxdar  Unr  (not  many),  wild 
reindeer  or  carilioii.  ptarniiiran  atid  two  larp-  pdlinae, 
sornethinir  like  Idackiraine.  Tlie  liiL'irer  one  of  these 
edihlo  frame  hirds  weighs  ten  to  twelve  jMHinds.  They 
are  not  plentiful. 

The  only  hard-hip  I  suffered  worth  consith'rinfr  was 
tlie  f<H>d.  and  I  think  that  I  would  not  have  minded  that 
much  if  I  had  not  Im-cu  made  sick  hy  the  raw  tlsh.  At 
first  I  did  not  know  a  word  of  r.aj)pish.  and  not  one  of 
my  F.apps  knew  a  word  of  Knglish.  It  t<M.k  forty-one 
days  to  make  the  trip.  Kvery  day  I  learned  several 
words,  and  it  was  not  lonir  hefore  I  could  get  along  verv 
well.     Onr  also  In'comes  an  expert  jjantomimist. 

I  was  glad  to  reach  Ltilea.  After  an  inspection  of 
the  successful  electrical  concentration  works,  that  refine 
the  Gellivaro  magnetite.  I  was  ready  to  proceed  to  the 
source  of  the  ore  at  Malndwrg,  near  Gellivare.  A  rail- 
road huilt  to  haul  this  iron  ore  to  the  sea  offered  a  verv 
good  passenger  service.  I  think  it  was  the  first  rail- 
road to  be  huilt  in  the  Arctic  zone  anywhere  in  the 
world. 

At  Gellivare  I  found  the  manager  of  the  mines  a  most 
engaging  and  hospitable  gentleman,  who  had  visited  the 
Michigan  iron  mines.  Fie  was  gracious  in  every  way 
and  made  my  visit  to  Gellivare  ple.'jsnnt  jind  mem<^rnl>l'\ 


THE  HEART  OF  THE  ARTIG  LAPLAND     183 

I  ntuili('«l  till'  ..r«<  atid  iron  fonnatioiis  th«r«'  for  a  few 
•lavs  ami  went  on  to  Kiniiiavaara  aii*l  Limsavaara. 
riif  railroad  was  iM-iri^  continued  by  tin-  Swedish  gov- 
triiiij«-iit  to  tins,,  jrrcut  ore  tirlds,  and  in  mnj unction 
with  Norway  arross  the  Kiks^anson  to  an  Arctic  ojK'n 
M'afM)rf,  now  calltd  Narvik,  on  Ofotcn  Fjord. 

lirforc  Itavinn  for  Kininavaara  I  cliinlM-d  th*'  Dun- 
dri't,  a  fanioii-  mountain  near  ('icllivirc,  to  sit  tlic  mid- 
ni;:lit  sun.  It  is  scan-ily  worth  wliih-  to  do  tlii<  if  one 
is  to  remain  lony  in  tlir  *'  Land  of  the  Miclniglit  Sun," 
bt'causf  ni>  s|MciaI  trip  is  lu'ccssary  to  sec  it. 

I  stopped  for  a  day  at  liodcn,  wlicrc  I  witnessed  the 
work  of  construction  U|Ktn  (|uite  a  formidahle  fort  Swe- 
den was  huildin^r  to  protect  that  portion  of  the  Ix.undary, 
and  especially  the  new  railroad,  from  tin-  dreaded  Rti.s- 
sians.  Wherever  I  went  in  Northern  Sweden  I  found 
a  shadowy  fear  of  the  In'ar's  elaws,  and  well-informed 
Swedes  seemed  to  he  certain  that  in  the  lotifr  run  the 
new  Arctic  railroad  would  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
Russians. 

In  the  more  |Kipulous  portit)ns  of  Sweden  the  polit- 
ical topi«'  most  discussed  was  the  strained  relations  be- 
twei'ii  Norway  and  Sweden.  There  was  more  agitation 
in  Norway  over  this  than  in  Sweden.  It  was  freely 
predicted  that  Norway  would  secede  from  the  S<'andi- 
navian  Union  with  Sweden,  and  that  fn-rhaps  there 
would  Ih'  war.  I'pon  my  return  to  the  Fnited  States  I 
was  roundly  abused  by  Swedish-American  newspapers 
for  a  statement  of  my  belief  that  the  L'nion  would  not 
endure  much  longer.  The  only  thing  that  prevented 
actual  hostilities  when  the  break  came  was  the  courage 
and  preparedness  of  Norway,  the  Norse  reputation  for 
valor,  and  the  conviction  on  the  part  of  Sweden  that 
Norway  could  neither  Ix'  cumiuered  nor  coerced. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

DEPOSITS    ()V    JHON    ORE    AM)    BKDS    OF    COAL    UNDEB 

Tin;  SHADOW  of  the  pole 


C  ROSSI  X(!  tlic  Arctic  Circh*  anywlicro  the  route 
on  north  is  a  hicak  oim'  in  the  winter.  Snow 
fields,  hare.  cdhK  jraunt.  rockv  ridtres.  almost  no 
sijrn  ot"  v(^etati(in  or  animal  life,  make  a  r(\irion  that 
would  re])el  anviliintr  almost  hut  selfish  or  needful  men. 
Infre<iuentl_v  ]  saw  Lapp  winter  camps.  It  is  a  lone- 
some world.  All  visitors  to  the  far  north  notice  the 
oppressive  stillness:  "the  muflled  footfalls  of  silence," 
as  (piiet  as  a  noise  too  ^reat  to  hear. 

The  Kirunavaara-Luosavaara  iron  ore  fields  oontain 
the  uiost  extensivf  dej>osits  of  majniotite  known  in  the 
world.  It  may  he  that  thev  jK)ssess  a  greater  tonnage 
than  any.  even  more  than  the  ^fesaha  of  Minnesota,  or 
the  Jtahira.  of  ^linas  (Jeraes  Brazil.  They  are  located 
in  the  northwest  part  of  Swedish  Lapland,  well  within 
the  Arctic  Circle,  and  not  far  from  the  boundary  be- 
tween Xorway  and  Sw(>den. 

The  rejrion  had  not  been  thorouphly  explored  when  I 
visiti'd  it  in  the  last  decade  of  eij^hteen  hundred,  but 
enousrh  was  known  to  warrant  expensive  measures  to  get 
the  ore  into  the  markets  of  the  world.  Since  the  first 
attack  upon  it  much  more  has  been  learned,  until  there 
renuiins  no  doubt  that  there  is  a  most  remarkable  ton- 
nage.    The   ore   i«^   a   magnetite, 

1S4 


It  runs  as  high  as 


IXDKK  tup:  shadow  ok  TIIK  POI.K     185 


>ixt y-uine  per  cent,  in  metal] ic  iron,     1  was  assured  that 
ci^r^'oes  averaging,'  as  high  its  that  coiiW  ih.'  siiipped. 

Some  of  it  is  low  enough  in  phosphorus  to  make  it  a 
Bessemer  ore,  whieh  j)rocess  is  inijM>ssil)le  to  ore  con- 
taining more  than  <ine-tlnn'saiidth  of  one  per  cent,  of 
phosphorus  to  one  per  cent,  of  metallie  imti,  unless,  of 
course,  that  ore  higher  than  that  in  phosphoriis  is  mixed 
with  an  ore  much  lower  in  phosj»horus. 

Sulphur  in  the  Kirunavaara  ore  varies.  The  per- 
centage is  always  rather  high,  hut  not  enough  to  be  pro- 
liil)itive  of  treatment.  The  most  nhjectionahle  ingredi- 
ent of  the  ore  is  titanium,  whieh  is  present  to  as  great 
a  degree  as  one  per  cent. 

It  was  generally  coiisiihred  among  metallurgists  that 
so  much  titanium  as  that  rendered  ore  untif  for  use  and 
valueless.  They  had  as  yet  discovered  no  way  to  flux 
titaniferous  ore.  It  would  hecome  sticky  and  mushy 
and  would  not  flow  freely. 

Inability  to  handle  such  ore,  In-cause  of  lack  of  knowl- 
edge, caused  a  condemnatory  report  to  he  made  upon 
the  titaniferous  iron  ore  range  north  of  Port  .Vrthur  in 
Canada,  that  has  kept  that  rcirion  ufdeveloped  to  this 
day.  It  nearly  operated  in  the  same  way  with  the 
Kirunavaara  field. 

Now  methods  are  einployed  ihat  do  away  with  the 
objections  io  the  presence  of  titanium  up  to  one  per 
cent.,  or  even  in  greater  ipiantities. 

At  the  time  of  my  visit  the  Kirunavaara  range  had 
been  traced  for  sixty  miles.  Where  the  railroad  touched 
the  range  and  the  first  mining  was  begun,  practically 
an  uninterrupted  outcrop  of  iron  ore  extended  for  more 
than  five  miles.  Som(>  j)lace>  it  was  seven  hundred  feet 
above  the  surface.  At  one  [M)int  it  dipped  under  a  small 
lake  and  had  been  cut  with  a  diamond  drill  operated 


180 


THE  IKOX  HUNTER 


upon  tho  iVp.  Even  with  tlip  lowor  wasros  provailinp,  the 
cost  of  irottirifj  out  fhf  oio  was  irnatcr  than  i[)on  anv 
of  tlio  ArrK'ricaii  raiiurcs.  (Vial  wa-  a  inoMciti  and  I 
warf  tohl  that  a  car^o  of  iron  oro  ]\.\i]  hccn  sent  to  Can- 
ada in  exchaiiirc  for  a  return  car;,'-')  nf  coiil.  Since  that 
time,  John  M.  F.oniryear.  of  .Midii"-:!!!.  lias  (ij)ene<l  coal 
measures  upon  Spifzher^rf^n,  and  the  fuel  (juestion  has 
heen  solved  in  a  tneasure. 

From  Kirunavaara  to  the  ocean  at  Xarvik  the  rail- 
road is  a  series  of  snow  sheds  and  tunnels,  re(|uirinp 
superior  couraire  and  encrineerinir  in  construction.  Xar- 
vik was  just  iM'iiiff  huilt.  The  ore  <locks,  pockets  and 
trestl"-  were  of  steel  and  r'ans  for  an  important  port 
had  heen  made. 

Since  then.  I  am  informed,  that  as  much  as  fifteen 
million  tons  have  heen  shipjjed  from  Xarvik  in  a  year, 
more  than  half  of  it  froin<r  to  Es  en,  Germany,  where  the 
preat  Krupp  iron  works  are  located. 

At  Xarvik  I  visited  the  cod  fisheries  amonj?  the  Ofo- 
ton  or  Lofoden  Islands  and  formed  a  new  aversion  to 
that  efficacious  remedy  codliver  oil.  Also  I  saw  the 
famous  maelstrom,  caused,  as  is  well  known,  bv  the  tidal 
waters  choking  Ix'tween  rocky  islands.  A  portion  of 
the  wild  ocean  is  forced  throuirh  with  roars  and  hisses 
and  churninjr  and  foam.  Sometiines  the  maelstrom  re- 
minds one  of  the  p-eat  tidal  hores  that  are  to  be  seen 
in  some  of  the  rivers  on  the  China  coast.  The  twist injr. 
charpinp,  convulsive  waters  eddy  and  swirl,  and  re(]uire 
little  imagination  to  look  wicked  and  justify  the  detuon 
stories  told  in  Xorse  by  Skald  and  Sasra,  from  primitive 
times  down  to  the  present.  They  could  easilv  have 
wrecked  the  Vikinir  shifts,  which  were  not  ships  at  all 
but  only  big,  clumsy,  mostly  open  Iwiats.  very  similar  to 


rXDKi:  THE  SHADOW  OF  THE  rOLK      187 

the  little  traders  and  fisher  craft  that  dodge  in  and  out 
along  the  rockv,  saw-edged  coast  to-day. 

I  found  good  coastwise  steamers  and  had  a  coraforta- 
lile  and  pleasurn..i('  tiip  to  Tnimsoe  and  Hammerfest. 
It  was  not  so  easy  to  get  to  Xorth  Cape  and  over  to 
Spitzb<>rgen,  about  four  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from 
the  mainland. 

West  Spitzbergen  area  about  fifteen  thou.saiid  square 
miles;  Xorth  F]ast  La'id.  alxiiit  four  thousand,  and  Edge 
Island,  about  two  thotisand  five  hundred  stjuare  miles, 
form  t!>e  Xo  Man's  Land  group,  known  as  Spitzbergen. 
They  are  between  seventy-six  and  eighty-one  north  lati- 
tudes. West  Spitzbergen  is  nothing  more  than  a  rock- 
girt  ice  house.  A  central  plateau  of  ice  forces  glaciers 
down  to  the  sea  through  giant  rifts.  All  around  the 
coastal  belt  one  may  hear  roaring,  splashing,  rumbling, 
cracking,  as  the  huge  ends  of  ice  rivers  break  off  into  the 
sea,  fractured  by  their  own  ponderousness,  and  float 
off  as  icel)ergs.  Tourists  generally  visit  the  west  coast 
where  a  hotel  has  been  built  in  connection  with  a  weekly, 
in  summer,  steamer  service. 

The  Dutch  are  credited  with  the  discovery  of  Spitz- 
bergen in  ^')06,  but  no  nation  claims  it.  If  anything 
it  is  Ameru-an,  Itecause  an  American  company,  led  by 
John  M.  Longvear,  of  Michigan,  is  mining  and  ship- 
ping coal  from  there.  They  have  a  shaft  down  through 
frozen  material  more  than  one  thousand  two  hundred 
feet,  the  deepest  ice  shaft  in  the  world.  It  is  reported 
that  these  mines  have  lecently  been  sold  to  liussia  for 
thirty  million  dollars. 

Many  interesting  fossils  have  been  exhumed,  mostly 
of  a  tropical  nature,  proving  the  polar  regions  once  to 
have  been  warm  before  the  tilting  ice  cap  and  precession 


158 


THE  IKOX  HUXTER 


of  the  equinoxes  caused  an  axial  shift.  Huge  palm 
fronds  have  k?en  dug  out  and  vast  quantities  of  im- 
k'dded  fossil  coprolites  have  been  encountered.  In 
summer  the  sun  glare  and  redected  heat  on  the  interior 
ice  fields  is  trying.  Over  one  hundred  species  of  au- 
tochthonous flowering  plants  and  ferns  have  been  classi- 
fied. 

KalK)t  and  Sir  Martin  Conway  have  done  some  ex- 
ploration, but  really  little  is  known  about  SpitzlM-rgen. 

J>y  the  time  of  my  return  down  tlie  Norse  coast  the 
headlands,  black-bordered  shore  and  shadowy  fjords 
were  compelling,  and  kept  one's  senses  alert  and  emo- 
tions stirred.  I  could  easily  see  how  the  liardy  folk 
were  content  to  remain  the  thralls  of  such  environment. 
Every  color  that  sky  and  sea  oould  assume  was  present; 
the  fjords  were  Kembrandtian  bins  of  gloom  with  all 
arrangements  of  chiaroscuro  from  arrows  of  sunlight 
to  pitchy  dungeon  depths  of  darkness. 

Over  the  cliffs  poured  silvery  streamlets  fed  by  melt- 
ing snow,  making  a  black  and  vhite  barred  coast  line 
and  even  suggesting  troops  of  white  horse  cavalry  con- 
cealed over  the  top  of  the  escarpment,  with  only  their 
straggling  white  tails  hanging  in  view  over  and  down. 

The  deep  green  of  spear-topped  tannenbaum  amidst 
snow  formed  a  fairy  background.  Altogether  the  scen- 
ery in  April  and  May  along  the  north  coast  of  Norway 
is  indescribably  fascinating  and  beautiful. 

Flocks  of  water  fowl  took  wing,  fishes  broke  through 
the  water  to  the  surface,  the  clumsy  eider  duck  quacked 
to  its  nesting  mate,  and  spring  in  gnomeland  was  in  the 
nostrils. 

On  the  way  down  the  coast  I  found  Throndjem  and 
its  ancient  cathedral  and  hall  of  the  Vikings  worth  some 
hours. 


UNDER  THE  SHADOW  OF  THE  POLE     180 

I  worked  mv  way  inland  to  tlie  famous  older  iron 
fields  of  Sweden,  and  tiiiallv  arrived  at  Stockholm  after 
a  tine  canal  trip. 

One  must  be  charmed  with  Stockholm  with  its  sing- 
ing ^liilar  and  its  intrusive  water  roads,  so  much 
sweeter  than  those  of  Venice,  if  not  quite  so  romantic 
and  colorful. 

In  these  days  the  Swedes  give  one  the  superficial  im- 
pression of  'eing  sensualists,  living  only  to  eat  and 
drink  and  \inrein  their  passions.  There  was  a  deeper 
.>i(le  than  that  in  evid(>nee  at  the  smt"irgos  l>oard  and  the 
puntsch  table,  that  told  of  more  serious  tilings  and  higher 
ideals. 

The  culture  that  starts  at  Upsala  may  be  traced  in  its 
iidniirable  diffusion  if  one  takes  the  trouble  to  do  so. 

The  Swedes  are  democrat ie,  hut  not  so  much  so  as  the 
Xorwegians,  who  have  no  superiors  as  a  worthy  and 
tine  people. 


_^i 


CHAPTER  XXII 


A    STARV.mON    HIKK    TO    HINT    F(JK   A    HIDDEN    BANOE 
OF    IKON    OUK 

IX  the  0011  rso  of  my  years  of  summer  explorations  in 
Canada  I  licani  rcpciitcdiy  (.f  an  iron  dam  on  tlie 
Wrmiilion  Kivcr,  north  of  Georgian  Bav.  Grad- 
ually I  worked  in  that  direction.  A  Mr.  MacCharles, 
who  had  heen  employed  hy  me  temporarily  to  do  some 
work  for  my  newspaper  at  the  Sault,  had  'gone  to  Sud- 
bury ,n  ISs,,.  The  „i,.kel  deposits  had  heen  attraetinj? 
attention  to  the  Sudhury  distriet.  Rumors  of  ^'old  had 
sent  prospeetors  as  f:,r  afield  as  they  eould  pt-t  into  the 
wilderness  and  feed  themselves. 

Gold  will  cause  more  excitement  and  turn  more  people 
crazy  than  anything  else  in  the  world,  not  even  excopt- 
inj;  diamonds.  This  has  heen  true  of  man  since  Jason 
and  his  arjronauts  went  in  search  of  the  f^olden  fleece. 
There  is  always  a  i)ot  of  jrold  for  somelx)dv  at  the  foot 
of  a  rainhow,  and  the  rainbow  chasinc;  for  gold  has 
caused  war  and  woe.  sickness  and  sorrow,  heartache  and 
horror,  hardness  and  hunjrer  among  me!i,  from  the  be- 
irinmng  to  this  day  of  engulHng  strife  in  Europe. 

There  is  gold  in  the  V(>rmillion  River  vallev  of  C'an- 
i>da.  It  is  strewn  in  fine  particles  throuirh"the  sand 
everywhere,  but  nowhere  has  it  paid  for  its  winning 
iin.1  perhaps  never  will.      Searchers  for  the  mvsterioiis 

'  ""^''"•'^''  '"•'•'  "  *^'"f  =^  sup{,osed  to  be  the  source  of  all 

)<)0 


A  STARVATION  HIKE 


191 


placrr  gold,  have  not  been  successful  in  the  Vermillion 
country. 

MacCharles  wore  a  tarn  o'shanter  on  his  head,  whis- 
kers on  his  chin,  a  Scotch  hagj^is  dialect  in  his  throat 
and  had  brains.  From  time  to  time  he  kept  me  in- 
t'lirmed  as  to  the  gold  and  nickel  activities  around  Sud- 
l>urv.  I  as  repeatedly  told  him  that  I  was  not  intcr- 
f.-.t<-(l  in  gold  and  nickel,  but  would  sit  up  and  take  notice 
if  lie  had  any  iron  ore  clews.  The  fact  that  I  could  be 
interested  in  iron  ore  and  not  in  gold,  nickel  or  copper 
was  too  jx-culiar  for  his  thought  processes  to  follow. 
Nevertheless  he  was  persistently  in  touch  with  me  and 
one  day  told  me  about  an  iron  dam  on  the  Vermillion 
River  up  behind  Sudbury,  well  towards  the  Height  of 
Land.  I  had  heard  of  something  of  the  kind  In-fore  but 
had  gotten  no  details;  in  fact,  had  not  previously  arrived 
at  a  point  where  I  was  prepared  to  look  into  the  thing. 
Xow  I  was  ready. 

I  went  to  Sudbury.  It  was  Octol)er.  The  Vermil- 
lion was  too  low  to  permit  of  ascending  it  in  canoes. 
I  got  a  couple  of  men  who  told  me  they  had  gold  claims 
near  a  certain  falls  on  the  river,  where  I  had  been  told 
\ver(>  the  exposures  of  lean  iron  ore.  They  did  not  know 
iron  ore  when  they  saw  it,  but  said  that  the  rock  at  the 
falls  in  question  was  black  and  heavy,  and  where  worn 
by  ice  and  water  showed  a  polish  like  steel.  These  men 
had  never  gone  up  river  except  when  the  stage  of  water 
permitted  canoeing.  However,  they  claitiied  to  be 
woodsmen,  and  I  was  told  they  were  reliable.  Just  at 
this  juncture  T  made  the  only  mistake  of  the  kind  that 
I  have  ever  made. 

An  arrangement  was  entered  into  by  which  they  were 
to  pack  for  me  and  show  me  the  falls  of  the  iron  dam. 
I  directed  thorn  to  outfit  for  a  trip  of  a  month,  whidi 


i'J: 


TIIK  IliOX  JirXTEi: 


tlii'V  said  thoy  cdiild  and  would  do.  and  I  trustpd  them 
and  did  nof  clicr-k  over  flic  siipfijics.  Tliis  was  an  in- 
<'X(Misal)i('  omission  that  had  a  justitiahlf,  if  uncomfort- 
able S(H|Ucl. 

In  the  otHcc  of  the  Balmoral  Ilotfl  at  Sudl)urv  thoro 
hnnjr  a  nni^h  and  nadv  Canadian  Pacific  Hailway  ad- 
vertising; maj>,  I  jrlanccd  at  if  rather  carelessly,  hut 
noted  with  some  particularity  the  peneral  course  of  the 
Vermillion  Kiver.  It  was  not  a  very  jiurposive  map, 
hut  it  was  tlie  .mly  one  I  had  seen.  In  fact,  the  re>;ion 
north  of  Sudhury  had  only  Ikhmi  surveyed  for  a  few 
miles,  and  that  work  had  heen  done  since  the  nickel  ex- 
citement. 

We  started  north,  three  of  us.  A  short  cut  took  us  in 
a  day  to  the  Verniiliion  at  Indian  Dump.  Crossing 
here  we  plunt'cd  into  the  trackless  wilderness,  and  within 
three  days  more  w.n  heyond  all  si^ns  of  human  life. 
1  had  li^Mired  th;;f  with  any  kind  of  luck  at  all  we  ou^dit 
to  have  arriv.'d  at  the  iron  falls  in  five  days. 

On  the  eijrhth  day  out  I  be<'ame  convinced,  from  sev- 
eral apparent  sijrns.  that  my  men  were  lost  so  far  as  get- 
tinjr  to  our  ohjective  was  concerned.  When  I  put  the 
matter  to  them  flatly  they  admitt»>d  it. 

They  discovered  to  me  the  more  embarrassing;  situa- 
tion that  our  prub  was  runninp  short.  Then  for  the 
first  timi'  to  my  cha<rrin  I  realized  my  carelessness. 
These  m«  n  had  been  accustomed  to  traveling  with  ca- 
noes; they  were  not  old  packers  and  woodsmen  as  I  had 
been  told,  and  wer(>  really  tenderfeet  away  from  a  river 
that  would  tloat  a  canoe.  Instead  of  taking  flour  and 
pork  and  tea.  they  had  loaded  up  with  a  lot  of  impossi- 
ble canned  stufl",  and  even  had  some  loaves  of  bread  and 
crackers. 

It  was  necessary  at  once  to  (rn  on  short  rations,  and 


A  STARVATTOX  IITKK 


193 


iiiiirht  havo  hcen  tlio  part  of  wisdom  to  h.ivo  turned  hack. 
I  had  never  done  sudi  a  thinir  as  turn  hack,  and  it  did 
not  even  (M-cur  to  me.  The  men  said  thcv  eould  lo^-ate 
tlifuiselves  if  thcv  <'ould  jret  to  the  Vermillion.  That 
-rr-iiicd  easy.  W«!  were  we^t  of  that  river.  I  ttxik  a 
<<nirs«'  a  little  north  of  ea.st  and  held  to  it.  exeept  where 
(ictonrs  were  foreed  hv  lakes,  mirv  swamps  and  now 
iind  the!i  a  talus-footed  raiifjeof  low,  rtK'kv  mountains. 

On  the  third  day  after  I  Ix-eamc  the  piide  we  arrived 
iit  a  stream  that  they  said  was  the  Vermillion.  Further- 
iiioir-  they  airreed  that  we  were  Ix^low  the  iron  dam, 
which  they  thought  we  eould  reach  in  one  day's  march 
upstream.  We  checked  over  our  pruh  carefully  and 
found  it  distressiiifrly  low.  I  was  carrying  the  cover- 
iiiir  for  all  of  us,  three  hlankets  and  a  lisrlit  shed  tent 
done  up  in  a  pack  sheet,  with  a  timip  line  or  misery 
strap,  which  will  cut  your  hair  Iwtter  than  the  average 
harher  if  you  wear  it  outside  your  hat. 

Without  delay  we  prweeded  upstream  and,  to  my  en- 
thusiastic deliirht,  we  came  wirhin  a  few  hours  to  a  falls 
and  series  of  rapids  that  proved  to  he  the  ones  1  soujiht. 
At  a  point  quite  a  distance  before  reachinir  the  falls,  I 
came  upon  iron-lx-ariufr  rock  of  fine  texture  resembling 
an  olivine  pabbro,  and  nearby  I  saw  outcroppings  of 
lean,  magnetic  ore. 

We  camped  at  the  iron  dam  that  night.  As  soon  as 
day  broke  next  morning  I  b<'gan  clambering  over  the 
rocks.  With  my  little  hand  pick  I  freshly  fractured 
hundreds  of  projections.  All  of  the  exposures  on  both 
sides  of  the  river  were  of  lean  magnetite,  carrying  about 
thirty  per  cent,  of  metallic  iron. 

.\t  one  place  I  fnmd  a  large  boulder  of  rich  iron  ore 
in  the  dry  river  bed.  Sainjiles  from  it  analyzed  later 
'rave  seventy  per  cent,  metallic  iron. 


IMl 


TITK  IRON'  nrXTER 


T  rlimhrd  the  liills  rioiir  hv,  travrrsofl  thr  rnvinos  and 
(liifr  nndrr  I'vcrv  fiillcn  tn-v  nrid  iiptiirnrd  stump  T  saw. 
At  on*'  stimif)  F  dntr  out  a  «niall.  roufrli-cd^'cd  oliutik  of 
nnifnif'tic  imn  ore.  >li()\vin;r  l>v  its  unwftrn  rdgcs  that  the 
folid  h'dp-  was  most  likfl.v  near  at  hand. 

(iruh  was  ncark  jrono.  hut  I  sh'pt  two  nijrlits  at  the 
irtin  dam.  If  one  had  Im-ch  iif-rvnus  I  think  he  must 
have  Jmtii  hilled  to  sleep  hy  the  inusie  of  the  falling 
waters,  as  they  hroke  over  the  magnetic  dyke  ahruptlv, 
or  sarifr  from  easeades  or  parted  huhhlinply  around  dor 
nicks  into  vitreous  pools. 

I  needed  no  lullahy,  and  even  did  not  awaken  wlion  a 
moose  walked  over  my  protrudinj.'  limhs  in  front  of  our 
little  shed  tent.  The  nifrhts  were  frosty,  and  some  snow 
fell  from  time  to  time. 

'J"here  was  enough  snow  the  seeond  morninp  to  exhihit 
the  tracks  of  a  hi<r  hull  moose  that  actually  strode  over 
us  duriiijr  tlie  ni^ht.  Xearhy  the  majestic  animal 
horned  several  twininjr  maples  and  must  have  cracked 
hrush  and  made  a  lot  of  noise,  but  I  slept  on  uncon- 
scious of  it  all. 

I  had  not  learned  very  much  more  than  that  an  at- 
tractive and  hopeful  iron  formation  existed  here  and 
then  the  low  jrruh  supply  forced  me  to  fly.  All  the 
packs  were  lifrhter.  The  frrul)  was  nearly  pone  so  that 
the  men  could  take  a  portion  of  my  load.  T  took  the 
lead.  We  struck  out  on  a  bee  line  for  the  C.  P.  R. 
Railroad  track. 

Anxious  about  food  and  feeling  the  full  force  of  cha- 
grin on  account  of  my  own  carelessness.  I  tried  to  go 
as  rapidly  as  possible.  Our  short  rations  had  begun  to 
tell  on  us,  and  T  think  we  were  all  nervous,  which  made 
it  worse.     We  had  no  firearm  or  tishing  tackle. 

That  v.isht  we  ate  the  last  of  our  supplies.     A  greasy 


A  STAKVATION   II IKK 


i 


soup  and  thin  reully  .se'iucd  to  do  ua  more  harm  th 

fr«K»d. 


Ull 


Next 


^{ 


morninjr  1  rijrjjcd  a  noosj- 
alK)ut  twelvi'  ftit  loiif;  and  pave  it  to  Dunk,  th*-  voun>r»>r 
man,  to  carry.  He  was  instnK'tcd  tn  slyly  pass  tlu-  looft 
ovt'P  the  luad  of  a  spruco  hen,  if  we  saw  any  of  those 
hf'autiful  and  ttM)fhsome  Canadian  grotise.  I'niike  tlie 
rutFcd  ^'rouse,  they  have  dark  phimajre  and  dark  meat 
and  are  stupidly  unafraid  of  man,  especially  where  they 
have  not  been  hunted. 

AJMiut  ten  o'clock  all  of  us  saw  one  at  al)out  the  same 
time.  Clinck  and  I  performed  in  fntnt  of  it  so  as  to 
"  ii^'a<re  its  attention.  It  was  jxrclied  on  the  linih  of  a 
hanksian  pine  alxuit  nine  feet  from  the  frnmnd,  and  sat 
near  the  UAi:  Diuik  pot  the  tree  trunk  between  himself 
and  the  bird.  Projectinj;  the  mmse  end  of  his  pole 
very,  very  slowly  and  carefully  up  he  passed  the  l(M)p 
over  the  bird's  iiead,  gave  a  yank  and  we  had  our  break- 
fast. One  was  not  enough  to  satisfy  us  but  it  lu'lped 
out  wonderfjilly.  There  were  more  but  all  of  them 
perched  too  high.  During  the  day  Dunk  gatfled  two 
more  so  that  it  lfM)ked  as  though  we  would  not  starve. 

Next  day  we  saw  a  lot  of  spruce  liens.  Nearly  al- 
ways they  were  on  the  ground,  and  when  th«'y  flushed 
would  fly  up  too  high  to  reach  with  our  snatHe  pole. 
The  only  way  to  get  them  was  to  throw  a  missile. 

Chuck  killed  three  in  three  throws  with  a  club  and 
then  he  started  to  boast.  lie  said  that  when  he  was  a 
boy  he  could  beat  any  Indian  throwing  a  tomahawk. 
Just  about  as  he  had  satisfied  his  own  cars  with  self- 
sung  song  of  prowess,  we  came  upon  several  spruce  hens. 

Before  when  Chuck  had  thnivvn  so  successfully  he 
had  muttered  after  each  victory,  "  Cod  loves  his  own." 
It  was  not  so  much  reverence  as  it  might  have  been,  for 


IfMl 


TMK  n:()\  nr:\TKK 


now  he  pivr-  .mirli  mi  <'xliil»itinn  of  ]w\  throwinp  and 
jirofHiiitv  as  wmiM  nuikr  mu's  linir  curl.  Th«'  tantaliz- 
ing frrnusc  jiisf  rnii  an<l  «l<Mltrf«l.  He  never  <lii|  make  it 
fly.  Sotnetinies  Clniek  wmiltl  ^'et  up  to  within  four  or 
live  feet  of  if  iind  then  he  would  throw  over  its  head. 
Finally  I  killed  it  with  my  hand  jiiek  as  it  ran  by  mv 
witiiin  a  eouple  of  feet.  This  ^'ave  us  four  and  we  lived 
on  theni  that  day. 

'llie  third  day  after  our  j^'nh  was  fpmv  wo  saw  noth- 
inj:  to  eat  and  ate  nothinj:.  By  eveninjr  we  were  a  lit- 
tle weak,  hut  I  think  if  we  had  not  Iwen  nervous  the  ex- 
perience would  not  have  be«'n  disapreeahle.  I  had  b<'en 
caupht  out  once  U-fore  without  food,  hut  in  an  excusa- 
ble way.  However,  I  renn'mlwred  that  I  was  so  shaky 
that  I  missed  a  jM-rfeetly  easy  shot  at  a  deer  just  iK-cause 
I  wanted  it  so  badly.  Chuck  and  Dunk  were  Im'coui- 
inp  disajrreeable ;  not  so  much  to  me  as  to  ea«'h  other. 

Just  after  dark  I  was  certain  that  I  heard  the  sound 
of  an  ax.  The  men  could  not  hear  it.  I  lim-d  it  up 
carefully  with  my  compass.  Next  mt)rnin^  I  started  in 
the  direction  of  the  sound  of  the  ax  I  had  heard  the  eve- 
niufr  before.  At  first  Chuck  and  Dunk  would  •>.)!  ■^.  '- 
l<»w  me,  but  as  I  strode  on  without  stopj)infr  a  moment 
to  coax  or  parley,  they  came  alonjr,  now  anjrry  at  my 
.seeminjr  indifference.  A  l.ttle  after  ei>rht  o'clo<'k  we 
came  to  an  old  lumber  camp  and  found  two  n>en  in  it. 
At  first  they  objected  to  dividinp  their  supplies  with  us. 
I  told  them  our  story  and  wound  up  by  the  calm  but 
determined  statement  that  we  were  hunjrry  and  des- 
perate and  three  to  two,  and  would  have  food  if  we  had 
to  fipht  for  it.  This,  with  the  promise  I  made  to  re- 
place the  jrrub  we  ate  and  took,  made  them  assume  a 
different  attitude.     Wo  ate  our  till  and  rested  a  day. 

The  camp  was  one  of  the  h-^t  I  ever  saw.     It  had  been 


A  STARVATION   IIIKK 


in: 


iH«(l  wry  littlo  and  wliv  it  was  al)Hti«|f>iird  I  did  not 
know.  IwciitiM'  then"  was  tiiu-  staii(|iiifr  whitr  piiu'  in  tlio 
vicinity  and  vi-ry  littlr  «'vi<lrn«'«'  »f  cuttin^r.  The  criiiH- 
<  rs  told  us  that  tlicir  principals  i'X|H'<-tcd  this  pine  to  l»o 

I'll I  upon  thf  market  at  piihli*-  am-tiori  s(miii,  and  they 

were  to  1m'  prepared  to  hid  on  it  int«'llijrpntly. 

Tlicn-  was  not  a  nail  or  picx'o  of  iron  in  thf  ontiro 
iMtiip.  Kvcn  the  liiiijres  were  birchen.  Peeh'd  |)ine 
li';.'s.  clean  atifl  iM-antiful.  made  the  walls.  \  s«'«M)p-r(M»f 
made  Ity  ad/in>»  loj^s  until  they  are  hollow  and  then 
I.iyintr  them  like  tile,  thus,  ^'^^HC^^::^  ,  makes  a  Ix-tter 
i-iverinp  than  the  clajilx.ard  r(M»f  of  the  South  or  the 
ci'ilar  shake  roof  nf  the  North, 

In  the  center  of  the  <'amp  was  an  oblong  mound  of 
•  arth  teti  by  sixteen  feet  in  si/.e.  The  dirt  was  held  in 
fdace  by  side  l«»«rs  staked.  Overhead  a  hole  in  the  rfK>f, 
fitted  with  a  lutnuirifr,  inside,  shako  chimney,  carried  <»flF 
the  smoke.  This  arrangement  is  ealh-d  a  "camlMM>>e." 
but  why  not  a  fourneau.  by  the  Canadian  French,  I  do 
not  know.  In  some  parts  it  is  called  a  "  calMxise,"  but 
in  this  part  of  Canada  it  is  a  "  candnxtse,"  and  a  <Mmp 
♦irted  with  one  is  knowji  as  a  *' ciutdxiose  camp,"  and  is 
popular  becatise  of  ventilation  and  consecpi.-ui  health- 
ful n  ess. 

Ordinary  lumber  camps  are  not  much  better  than 
black  holes  of  Calcutta,  and  the  Canadian  lumberjack 
was  hard  to  wean  away  from  the  camboose.  The  c<v>k 
prepared  his  meals  by  it  as  before  an  open  fire,  and 
baked  the  sweetest  and  b<st  bread  in  baking  kettles  that 
he  buried  in  the  hot  coals  and  ashes.  I  can  taste  it  as 
I  write.  At  night  the  men  would  sleep  in  a  circle  on 
the  hewn  log  tloor,  with  their  feet  towards  the  warm 
camboose  and  their  heads  away,  and  their  torrents  of 
stinking  breath  passing  njt  the  hanging  wooden  chira- 


r 


irts 


rilK  Ii:()\  HUNTER 


riev.  With  sndi  a  pluff  to  sleep  and  plenty  of  beans 
(•(M)ke(l  in  the  aslies,  and  fat  pork  and  lliick  I)laek  strap 
molasses,  tlic  Canadian  lumherjaek  of  vestorday  was  a 
master  workman  in  the  '.voods. 

As  soon  as  I  jrot  to  Sudbury  I  en^'aped  rwo  reliable 
packers  and  sent  with  them  back  to  the  camp  probably 
ten  times  as  much  irnib  as  the  cruisers  had  supplied  me, 
for  prub  and  life  are  the  same  in  the  bi^  woods.  Chuck 
went  with  them. 

It  was  a  kind  of  fool  e.xperience.  the  whole  thinp,  but 
it  did  .serve  to  establish  for  tne  a  credit  in  the  woods  of 
that  oo»mtrv  that  stood  me  in  pood  service  several  times 
in  the  future. 

It  was  too  late  to  do  anythinpr  more  that  fall,  so  my 
wife  and  I  went  otf  to  the  South  Seas,  Samoa,  Tahiti, 
Fiji.  Xew  Zealand,  Tasmania,  .\iistralia  and  up  tlimuirh 
Torres  Straits  to  Xew  Cuinea  and  on  to  the  Dutch  Is- 
lands, the  Philippines,  China  and  Japan.  This  took 
us  until  late  in  the  following  sununer. 

Home  ajiaiii  I  oriranized  a  party  and  inaujru- 
rated  a  thorouirh  surf.ifc  search  and  survey  of  the  re- 
gion north  of  the  Sudbury  nickel  zone,  from  Wahna- 
])itae  Lake  on  the  east  to,  and  even  beyond,  the  Ahnap- 
ing  chain  of  lakes  on  the  west  and  well  over  the  heidit 
of  land  to  the  north.  This  work  and  the  activities  flow- 
ing from  it  consumed  several  seasons. 

As  soon  as  I  had  nnule  «'nough  headway  to  be  certain 
that  it  was  warranted,  I  decided  to  have  a  careful  mag- 
netic survey  made  of  the  region.  In  order  to  have  this 
done  to  the  very  best  advantage.  I  went  to  Dr.  Charles 
R.  Van  Ilise,  then  at  the  head  of  the  Department  of 
Geology  of  the  Tniversity  of  Wisconsin,  and  until  his 
recent  untimely  death  president  of  that  great  institu- 
tion of  catholic  learning. 


A  STAKVATIOX  HIKK 


1U9 


So  far  as  T  knew  tlit-ii  and  Ik'Movo  now.  Dr.  Van  ilisc 
was  in  a  class  by  himself  as  an  eoonouiic  fj:coloo;i.st.  In 
lact.  lit'  had  d<>ni'  nnu-h  to  help  to  crcatf  that  hraiifh  of 
;rcolo<:v  in  America.  Ho  advised  me  to  enfiajre  Ken- 
neth Leitii,  one  of  his  assistants  and  now  Dr.  Vanllise's 
sneeessor  in  the  department  of  geolofry  at  Wisconsin. 

Leith  at  once  orfranized  his  crews,  and  I  think  whih' 
employed  by  me  he  did  the  first  dial  compass  surveyint; 
and  mapping:  ever  carried  on  in  Canada.  Not  much,  if 
any,  had  been  done  in  America.  So  thorough  was  he 
:.nd  so  competent  were  his  young  college  assistants,  that 
the  magnetic  iron  ore  formation  was  mapped  in  a  com- 
plete, highly  satisfactory  and  practi(!al  manner.  Dr. 
VanHise  was  the  consultant  in  this  work.  It  did  not 
extend  the  boundaries  of  the  possible  ore  zone  much 
ditlerently  from  my  owm  first  rough  work,  so  far  as 
staking  claims  went,  but  it  proved  up  and  made  every- 
thing more  certain. 

During  a  considerable  period  my  time  was  entirely 
taken  up  in  securing  title  to  the  ore  lands  and  in  financ- 
ing the  enter|)rise.  The  most  embarrassing  condition 
was  caused  by  the  fact  that  a  portion  of  the  region  adja- 
cent to  the  Vermillion  River  liad  l)een  run  over  by  gold 
prosj)ectors  who  had  staked  a  lot  of  claims,  some  over- 
lapping others  and  making  for  a  confusion  that  de- 
manded care  in  unraveling. 

All  of  these  were  revived,  so  far  as  possible,  with  the 
idea  that  the  claimants  would  get  something  out  of  them, 
and  especially  as  against  a  Yankee  contestant. 

My  policy  rather  took  the  wind  out  of  their  sails. 
I  could  find  only  a  few  wlio  had  performed  the  require- 
ments of  law  and  had  acquired  a  title.  But  whenever 
anybody  claimed  anything  and  was  not  disputed  by 
other  prosp'ctors,  I  v,ould  purchase  his  alleged  right. 


2i)0 


TllK  IKOX  IJCXTEK 


If  I  found  a  claimhold.T  who  rrally  had  anv  rights 
my  practice  was  such  as  to  cause  him  to  douht  mv  san- 
ity.    Having  given  the  claims  up  long  hefore  he<-ause  of 
insufficient  gold   vah.es,   the  prospector  wouM   he  con- 
scious of  no  vahie  so  far  as  his  knowh-d-e  was  concerned 
(  ons,'<]uentIy,  l,e  won  1.1   he  verv  apt  to  feel  that  if  he 
could  get  one  liundred,   five  hundred  or  one  tliousand 
dollars  tor  nothing  ho  would  he  just  that  much  to  the 
good      Imagine  then  his  surprise  wlien  I  would  settle 
with  him  tor  from  douhle  to  twentv  times  what  he  a^ked 
My  reasons  for  doing  this  were  twof.^ld :  conscience 
and  policy.     I   was  willing  to  pav  for  values  that  I 
knew  of,  that  the  other  party  was  ignorant  of,  l^ocause  I 
thought  It  was  right,  and  also  iMrause  T  exfK'cted  that 
whoever  developed  the  j.rr.perties  would  have  their  way 
made  easier  a.id  clearer,  than  if  th<-  l,H-al  woods,,eonfe 
were  s,)ueezed  to  the  lowest  cent  that  would  he  likelv  to 
cause  them  to  think  they  had  Ik^ch  rohhed. 

lint  I  nearly  ruined  my  reputation  for  sound  judg- 
m»..it.  h  was  necessary  to  liav  a  good  nianv  of  the 
hinds  cleared  of  all  possihle  lispnidens  at  Toron"to.  My 
legal  work  was  well  done  by  TFearst  &:  ^loKiiv  and  bv 
Ilearst,  McKa.v  ^  Darling,  .,f  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  On- 
tario. Mr.  Hearst  he<'ame  premier  of  Ontario,  and  Mr 
•McKay  became  an  able  and  respected  Canadian  judge, 
it  was  apparently  the  policy  of  everv  (^aiiadian  law 
hrm  to  have  one  member  a  conservative  and  the  other  a 
liberal. 

I  had  heard  that  nothing  could  be  obtained  at  the 
governmental  departments  at  Toronto  without  paving 
for  It;  that  from  top  to  l)otfom  there  had  to  hv.  bribery 
I  saw  nothing  of  the  kind  during  years  of  experience 
and  T  do  not  l)elieve  a  word  of  it.  The  fees  of  Hearst 
Ar  AIcKay  were  reasonable,  and  they  told  me  that  they 


A  STARVATION  HIKE 


201 


never  thought  of  paying  any  "  proase  "  money  or  per- 
mitting irraft  In  legislative  cireles  there  was  and  is  the 
same  tii  pitude  that  discolored  some  American  public 
eliaraeters  and  icts,  aiid  especially  was  this  tnie  there 
and  here  in  matters  involving  land  grants  and  the  pub- 
lic domain.  My  I  usiness  relations  in  (^anada,  cover- 
ing a  long  period  and  comprehending  considerable  trans- 
actions, were  always  agreeable. 

Where  I  slept  in  the  little  open  shed  tent,  and  was 
unawakened  by  the  nuKise  that  nearly  stepped  on  me, 
there  is  now  a  flourishing  mining  town  reached  by  a 
branch  of  a  transcontinental  railroad.  They  did  not 
develop  there  without  much  hard  and  cnjoyabl    work. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 


FATriERI.Y    ATTITrPK    nF    JOIIX    W.    GATES   AND 
.TOIIN    J.    MITCHELL 

AT  ono  timo  I  ownod  tho  entiro  ^Nfoose  Mountain 
iron  ran^ro  with  all  of  its  immcnso  valuos.     Of 
conrsf  I  oouhl  do  nothini;  witli  it  without  finan- 
cial help.     I  did  not  have  much  trouhle  arranging  for 
this. 

One  of  the  first  men  I  wont  to  sec  was  the  late  John 
W.  Gates.  ]\rv  idea  was  to  go  to  men  who  had  made 
their  wealth  in  iron,  who  knew  the  husiness  and  would 
understand  all  the  risks  involved.  Mr.  Gates  knew 
cnougli  alKMit  ine  readily  to  grant  me  an  interview.  I 
told  him  that  I  had  discovered  a  new  iron  range  in  the 
wilds  of  (^anada.  We  talked  a  while  in  the  forenoon 
and  he  asked  me  to  return  in  the  afternoon.  Wlien  I 
went  back  he  told  me  that  he  had  decided  to  become  in- 
terested. 

I  learned  years  afterwards  that  during  the  luncheon 
hour  lie  had  wind  to  the  lat(>  Josepii  Selhvood,  of  Du- 
luth,  asking  if  I  knew  what  I  was  talking  about  when  I 
talked  iron  ore.  Mr.  Sellw.Kul  was  one  of  the  most  suc- 
cessful of  the  early  practical  school  of  Lake  Superior 
iron  men.  His  reply  to  :Mr.  Gates,  with  whom  he  had 
been  associated  for  a  long  time,  was:  "You  can  go 
sled  length  on  Osborn." 

I  did  not  realize  then  that  I  was  so  favorably  regarded 
by   those   whose   political    trails    I   had   not   seriously 

202 


GATES  AND  MITCHKI.L 


203 


fTO?sed.  I  had  hoard  a  ^oat  doal  alM)ut  John  W.  fJiites. 
and  all  of  it  was  not  favorable.  Mv  opinion  is  that  ho 
was  much  maligned,  as  men  in  bij;  business  were  wont 
to  be  during  a  certain  period  of  industrial,  and  eonso- 
queut  politieal  unrest.  All  of  ni.v  incinories  of  Mr. 
Gates  possess  a  kindly  tone.  Tli.'  picture  I  like  l«'st  to 
recall  is  that  of  one  1  saw  on  a  day  when  he  arose  in  jiia 
office  and  started  out  to  lunch.  His  s(m,  the  late 
Charles  G.  Gates,  noticed  that  his  father's  shoe  lace  was 
unfastened. 

"  Wait  a  moment,  father,"  re(|ue:-te(l  the  young  man. 

As  the  father  halted  and  stood,  the  s(..i  knelt  at  his 

foot  and  tied  his  shoe.      Nothing  niueh  could  have  been 

wrong  with  a  father  and  a  son   between  whom  there 

was  such  a  tender  tie.     And  bnih  wore  fat. 

Another  clearly  ojx-n  window  to  the  character  of  John 
W.  Gates  is  his  action  during  the  iron  panic  winter  of 
1903-4.  The  Illinois  Steel  "i.rnpany  shut  down  its 
plants  at  Chicago  and  nearly  twenty  thousand  workers 
were  thro\\^l  out  of  oini)loynient.  ifr.  Gates  was  a  di- 
rector. He  opposed  closing  down.  At  the  same  time 
ho  controlled  the  Consolidated  Steel  &•  Wire  Works  at 
Joliet.  lie  kept  these  going  and  carried  nearly  ten 
thousand  workmen  thn.ugh  a  critically  hungry  period. 

All  this  was  creditable  to  him  as  an  e<-onomic  human- 
ist. The  way  that  he  secured  enough  business  so  that 
he  could  pull  through  was  an  unusual  tribute  to  his 
business  perspicacity  and  perhaps  nerve.  He  went  to 
England  and  saw  the  late  Joseph  Ch.im])erlain. 

When  Mr.  Gates  explained  tluit  the  object  of  bis  visit 
was  to  sell  him  steel  products  of  the  very  kind  that  ^h. 
Chanjberlain  was  manufacturing  at  Birmingham,  the 
great  colonial  secretary  of  the  empire  was  at  first 
amused,  and  then  was  insuiied  or  pretended  to  be.     Chi- 


M 


204 


Tin-;  iKox  nrxTER 


«'iij:<.  insistciiof.  woiil.l  ,iut  l.c  tliwjirt.'d.  Afr.  Ciifps  do- 
••liir.'.l  tlii.r  li..,-.Mil.l  >..||  to  Mr.  ('liiiiiil.crli.in  bettor  p)o(ls 
;tt  II  lower  priee  tluiii  the  hitter's  ensf.  This  interested 
tlie  liiniiiii^hiiiii  iron  nm^ter.  He  went  into  detailg, 
iind  fh<'  result  w;i<  :i  hi-  ,„.,|,,,.  f,„.  f|„.  ,i,,|;,,,  ,„i||,  ,,j  ^ 
••riticiil  time.  \Vhil<.  at  iJinnin-hiiin.  Mr.  Clijiinl.erlain 
took  Mr.  (Jale^  tliroii-h  hi-  .te..|  ,,h,nt<.  Wh,.,i  they 
finished  he  ii>ked  Mr.  (liife^  what  hr.  th(.iii:lit  of  them, 
lilunt  enonirh  nnially  an<l  oiits])ok.-n  as  an  avalanche* 
Mr.  (Jates  posed  caiitioiisly. 

"  Von  really  do  not  wish  nie  to  tell  von  lionestiv 
what  I  think,  do  yon  <" 

Indeed,  it  will  he  a  favor  t(.  me."  repli.-d  the  hig 
Kn^lishnian. 

'•  Well.  r,|  j,|„k  th<'  whole  outfit  and  wreek  the  huild- 
iii.irs,"  wa<  the  explosive  reply. 

Mr.  ("hainherlain  was  vi.iMy  shocked,  hut  he  .smiled 
and  a-ked.  "  What  then  <  " 

"  Then  I  would  eiiiiajre  Jolm  W.  (larrett,  of  Joliot, 
Illinois.  Tnited  State<  of  America,  to  huild  you  a  real 
wr.rks  with  mod(  rn  machincrv  and  .structural  couvon- 
iences." 

•loseph  Chamherlain  took  the  advice.  'Sh.  (larrott 
thorou.irhly  reluiilt  the  Hirminjrham  plant,  and  the  un- 
dertakinir  v.as  sju-edily  jn-titied  hy  the  increased  earn- 
iiiirs  that  resulted  from  the  reduced  cost  of  an  increased 
and  improved  production. 

We  organized  the  ^^loose  Mountain  Minintr  Company, 
T.imite.I.  Amou^  those  who  took  stc^-k,  in  addition  to  the 
<!uarter  interest  that  .Mr.  dates  si-rned  for,  was  Mr.  John 
.1.  Mitchell,  president  of  the  Illinois  Trust  and  Saving? 
Bank  of  Chicairo;  .lanxs  (\  Ilutchins.  attornev  for  Mr. 
Mitchell's  hank:  .Mr.  .lohn  Lambert,  a  husiness  ass<x«i- 
iite  of  Mr.  Gates;  lihii,-  A-  Co..  Xew  York  hankers,  and 


GATKS  AM)  AllTCUELL 


205 


Joseph  W.  Sclluood.  Tlio  airrrrinprt  wc  had  mado  ob- 
lijrated  thorn  to  fiivf  me  oii.-iuurth  of  the  shn-k  of  the 
eoiupain  in-c  of  carrviiii;  (•harir..s  uf  all  kinds.  ()n  my 
part  I  was  to  swurc  to  the  cmnpanv  at  actual  cost  all  of 
the  Moose  Mountain  iron  on-  lands.  There  were  con- 
ditions and  rnpiirenient.s  relating'  to  tinaucinj;  and  de- 
veloj)in^'  the  propi-rties. 

I  was  made  president  and  treasurer  of  the  company, 
dust  as  soon  as  I  was  ;riven  my  .puirter  interest,  I  di- 
vided It  with  a  Chicairo  promoter  who  had  aL-reed  to 
finance  me  at  Moose  Mountain,  hut  had  failed  to  live 
up  to  his  afrreement.      .\s  I  looked  at  it  he  had  done  his 
l>est  and  so  I  treated  him  just  as  if  he  had  heen  worthv. 
It  turned  out  to  he  the  most  unwarranted  husiness  act 
of  my  life  as  I  view  it  now,  because  this  man  sent  word 
to  me  to  ''  iro  to  hell  "  when  it  was  supj)osed  I  was  dving. 
I  had  injured  my  spine  by  a  fall  in  the  woods".     A 
dead  tree  trunk  lyi'ifr  across  a  rocky  ravine  gave  way 
as  T  walked  over  it.     I  fell  nearly  twentv  feet  and 
aliirhted  i-pon  the  coccyx  on  a  sharp,  japjged  rock.     This 
endangered  my  life.     When  it  was  supposed  and  com- 
monly reported  that  I  would  not  recover,  a  good  many 
interesting  things  occurred  that  emphasize  the  folly  of 
jumping  on  a  man,  or  consigning  him  to  the  eternal 
bow-wows  just  because  he  is  going  to  die.     At  least  wait 
until  he  is  dead. 

A  tailor  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie  told  a  luwver  that  he  had 
informed  me  about  Moose  Mountain,  and  later  claimed 
he  had  introduced  to  me  a  man  who  had  discovered  the 
iron  ore  and  showed  it  to  me.  This  entitled  him  to  a 
share  or  a  commission  according  to  his  view,  and  it 
might  have  if  there  had  been  a  vestige  of  truth  in  what 
he  said.  Eager  to  earn  a  fee  and  perhaps  figuring  that 
my  family  would  settle  the  claim  in  order  to  save  me 


Hi] 


20G 


THE  IRON   IR'XTEK 


from  annoyance  while  ill.  and  fhi.t  if  I  died  it  surely 
would  he  vii>y  to  make  the  fal.se  elaim  stick,  a  lawyer 
took  the  fiisv. 

'I  here  is  no  law  a^'ainst  chainiMTtv  in  Michijran.  I 
was  fold  alx.ut  the  ease  and  insisted  that  it  be  held  up 
until  I  was  well  enoufrh  to  fi^rht  it.  That  it  was  a  purely 
fabricated  atlair  for  purpose  of  roblH-ry  could  easily  be 
proven.  Never  thinkinjr  that  the  person  with  whom  I 
had  divided  my  interest  with..ut  the  cost  to  him  of  a 
penny,  would  feel  otherwise  than  a  deep  sense  of  pleas- 
ure at  the  o|)portunity  to  he  of  assistance,  I  directed  my 
secretary  t<.  write  him  fully  as  to  the  details  and  ask 
him  to  look  after  matters  until  I  recovered.  This  man 
also  thou-ht  I  was  d..ne  l„r  un(l..uhtedlv,  k'cause  he 
sent  me  word  that  I  could  p»  t..  hell;  that  he  was  not 
fakin^r  o„  any  law  suits  that  he  could  duck  and  soon. 

Of  course  I  was  not  told  this  until  after  some  months 
when   I  had  recovered  my  health  sutKciently  to  resume 
work.     Then   the  case  was  speedilv   taken'  into  court 
They  sued  for  Hfty  thousan.l  dollars  ;  finally  they  offered 
to  settle  f..r  various  sums  down  to  one  thousand  dollars. 
Judije   Jo.Mph    II.    Stc're   then    presided    as   circuit 
jud-e  where  the  cas,-  was  bn)iifrht.     He  was  my  intimate 
personal  friend  and   business  associate.     (.  ousequcntly 
he  asked  that  another  jud^'c  should  hear  the  case,  and  it 
••ame  up  before  the   late  Judj.'e  Streeter  of  Houghton 
(\)unty.     Evidently  th..  tailor's  lawyer  had  been  fooled, 
for  as  soon  as  a  portion  of  the  testimony  was  in  he  threw 
up  his  hands  and  the  case  was  dismissed. 

Enoufrh  of  it  was  heard  to  prove  clearly  that  the  story 
was  a  stupid  lie.  The  claimant  said  that  he  had  intro- 
duced a  woodsman  to  me  and  that  this  woodsman  had 
shown  me  the  Moose  Mountain  properties.  I  proved 
fliat   the  wood^niiUi  they  produced  had  never  been  to 


GATES  AND  MITCHELL 


20; 


Moose  Mountain,  oven  at  tho  tinio  of  the  trial,  and  that 
he  had  been  empioved  l)v  me  to  do  certain  work  three 
years  before  the  tailor  elainjed  he  had  introduoed  him 
to  me.  It  was  also  clearlv  proven  and  made  of  otKeial 
reeord  that  I  had  made  the  discovery  of  the  Mr»ose 
Mourtain  Iron  Kanpe,  the  greatest  iron  ore  district  in 
Canada.  After  the  case  ended  so  tiatly.  the  tailor 
moved  away  from  Sault  Ste.  Marie. 

Later,  when  I  was  a  candidate  for  Governor,  the  pub- 
lisher of  a  paper  at  Escanaba,  Michigan,  used  this  case 
as  a  basis  for  printing  libelous  statements  aliout  me.  I 
had  him  arrested  for  criminal  libel  and  he  was  con- 
victed. When  he  published  the  libel  I  really  believe  he 
thought  that  he  was  in  the  rii:ht,  because  I  had  known 
him  well  and  was  aware  of  his  high  character,  his  cour- 
age and  his  desire  to  ser\-e  the  public  unflinchincly.  Of 
course  such  things  travel  far,  so  that  a  man's  only  fun- 
damental protection  is  his  own  knowledge  of  himself 
and  within  himself  of  what  he  really  is,  for  "  as  a  man 
thinketh  in  his  heart  so  is  lie." 

I  would  not  have  had  the  publisher  arrested  and 
punished  if  I  had  not  b(>en  convinced  that  it  was  a  pul)- 
lie  duty.  Public  (.pini<m  and  the  MM  laws  are  the 
only  censors  of  a  free  press,  and  their  inviK-ation  is  the 
only  agency  of  det(>rmining  the  course  of  the  press  be- 
tween freedom    ind  license. 

At  various  times  I  was  given  chances  to  sell  out  mv 
interest  at  Moose  Mountain  and  I  was  anxious  to  do  so. 
There  was  no  stock  on  the  market,  it  has  never  been 
listed,  and  there  was  no  certain  way  of  measuring  its 
value.  Pittsburg  parties  offered  me  as  much  money 
as  I  thought  I  ever  wanted,  althotigh  the  sum  was  not 
large  as  rich  men  compare  and  understand  amounts.  T 
was  eager  to  sell  for  a  good  many  reasons.     Chiefly  I 


';  »-i 


m 


p^f 


208 


Tin-:  iitox  nrxTKfi 


'Inl  ri..f  c.jr.v  l...i„:r  n...!  d..vvi..      W.-  wor..  ..„   flio  ovo 
•4  aotivr  niiMin^  iu..!  I  .li.l  n..t  and  do  n,.f  .-laim  to  Im-  a 
I'ni.-tKMl   miniii-  man.      If  w„s  niv  .|utv.  j.s   I    I.K.kcd 
u|um  It.  to  inform  n.y  assoriatrs  „f  t\u-  ofFrr,  altl.ouf,d» 
Hmt.-  was  ,.o  i,jrn.,.,Mrnt  that  r.M|i.in.d  su.-l.  a  pHK-.Tding. 
I    wynt    to   Chicago    and    told    Mr.    (latrs    and    Mr. 
^UU■\wU.      Il,..s,.  „„.„   w.r..  older  tlian    I  and  Inid  tl.o 
I.M-p>t  .nt.n.st  in  .Moos,.  M<nn,tain.      More  tl.a.i  kindiv 
in  tlicir  tnann.T  towards  inr  tlic.v  a»nn...d  a  fatliorlv  at- 
fitud<-  fl.at  I  shall  always  n'mrnil)f>r  with  frrafitudc "     It 
was  in  .Mr.  (iaffs'  niVwo.     Uv  and  Mr.  Mit.-hell  oach  pat 
a  hand  on  my  shoulders  and  said: 

"Don't  s.-jl  now.  It  isn't  ononirli.  We  will  pho 
you  mor..  than  your  olf.T.  Hiif  if  w.  ,lid  von  miirht  not 
.'H  kindly  toward  us  in  tho  loni;  future.  You  would 
Ih'I>«-V('  that  w,.  had  taken  an  advantaire  of  vou,  and  we 
now  f,...|  ourselves  that  we  would  l)e  doin.i?  so  if  wo 
iH.u-ht  your  ititen-st.  or  p..rmitt..d  vou  to  sell  it,  for  the 
■•nnount„f  your  offer.  Also,  we  need  von  with  us  for 
a  time. 

At  that  very  tm.ment  .Mr.  Gates  and  Mr.  Miteh<dl 
nnd  .,ur  X.-w  York  partners  were  nejjoiiatinsr  with 
M.-Kenz.e  and  Mann,  of  the  Canadian  .Vorthern,to  take 
an  interest  in  M<«>se  Mountain  and  huild  a  railroad  into 
It.  I  did  not  know  of  this.  They  eould  just  as  well 
have  mad.>  a  few  hundred  thousands  out  ofmv  interest 
as  not.  But  that  was  not  the  wav  of  John  W.  Gates 
and  it^.s  not  the  way  of  that  prince  of  business  men,' 
John  J.  Mitehell.  one  of  the  Hrst  bankers  of  America 

I  had  aln.ady  seen  President  Shsutrhuessv,  of  the 
(anadian  Pa.-ifie  Railway,  alxnit  huildin-  in  from  Sud- 
bury, and  he  had  ordered  a  survey  made  and  the  branch 
line  was  aetually  printed  upon  their  maps.  But  their 
treighr  rate  on  the  ore  was  uearlv  double  that  of  the 


(JATES  AND  MITCHELL 


209 


Canadian  Xcrflu-rn.  Also  I  had  liad  a  i.uniher  of  the 
l)f'st  mining'  nii-n  <.f  Lake  SuiH'rior  visit  Mrnrsr  Moun- 
tain with  nic,  including'  Mt-ssrs.  HcIImt^,  Siif|i,.rl!ind, 
Walter  Fitch,  and  also  fro  f.'ssor  Seaman,  of  the  Miohi- 
fran  (.'ullofre  of  Minos  dcpartmont  of  ppolopv.  All  of 
th.-m  were  enthusiastic.  iKn-tor  Miller.  Ontario  Pro- 
vincial peolopst  and  I  )<H'tor  Coleman,  of  the  d.-partment 
of  freolojrv  of  Toronto  Cniversity.  were  amonjr  the  manv 
distinjniished  Canadian  mining  men  and  geologists  who 
visited  my  camp. 


('HAI»TKK  XXIV 

EAIl.NO   MOOSK  MKAT  KKO.M  O.NK   YKAIt's  KM)  TO  ANOTHEB 
Al    TIIK    MOOSK    Mdr.NTAI.N    lAMl' 

AM.  of  Us  had  ninosc  rriciit  tliroii^rlioui  tlio  year. 
I  In-  uiiwriftcti   law  of  flif  uiisiirvcvcd  country 
did  nut  make  a  closed  scasnii.     The  orilv  demand 
"I"'"  "-  was  that   nothiiii:  should  1k'  wasted."  jind  that 
iiothini:  shnuld  he  kiHed  that  was  not  used  for  food  or 
tnr.      l!la.-k   hears  wer.'  a  nuisance.      .\,  eamp  rol.l)er3 
th<-v  Ixvanie  unhelh-vahlv  hold.      So  we  had  traps  out 
for  th.Mi  all  the  time.      .\   Kren.-h  vouth  was  our  most 
••Xpert    hear    trapper.      Me    us,,!    pens,   deadfalls,    j.its. 
sli'.l    trap>.    hooks   on    trees   and    sharp<'ned   spikes   so 
driven  into  the  open  end  of  a  pork  harrel.  that  the  Unw 
'•oiild  crawl   in  and   lick  the  honev  or  maple  sujrar  or 
l»iirnt   molasses  hait   on   the  Ix.tt.ini  of  the   harre],   but 
could   n..f   crawl  out.     When  th<'  hear  would  start  to 
l)ack  out  the  spikes  would  run  into  him  and  verv  .soon 
dacjues  would   have  a   frantic   hear  cavorting  around 
with  a  harrel  on  the  forward  two-thirds  of  liis  lK)dv, 
♦hat  held  to  him,  and  mutlled  his  jrrowls  and  roars.      It 
was  not  verv  humane  and  I  onh'red  then>  to  kill  a  hoar 
as  soon  as  thev  cauirht  liim  in  a  barrel,     I  am  afraid 
that  always  thev  did  not  obey  tliis. 

We  also  had  in  our  crew  an  American  bov  named 
ITarold.  alK)ut  the  same  ape  as  Jacfjues.  Thoy  did  not 
get  alonj;  well  tojrether  and  several  times  they  clashed, 
only  to  a  draw.     ,Iac«jues  insisted  on  flvitifr  a  (\inadian 

•no 


KATINCi  MOOSK  MKAT 


211 


Kiiirli'li  iH'avcr  tljijr  over  tlir  cariip.  atiti  Harold  woiild 
liiiiil  it  <lt)\v!i  niid  run  up  tlir  Star'*  and  .rijH's.  Tlu-n 
fluTf'  wi)\iU\  Ih'  a  fiylit  and  no  Haj;  at  all  for  sohh'  time, 
wlu'ii  Harold  would  run  up  Old  (ilorv  an<l  .Ia<'<|U«'9 
wotild  pull  it  down,  and  another  drawn  scrap  would 
U'  puIN-d  olT. 

Kinallv  one  d;iv  .Tac<|uos  turned  up  missinp.  There 
wa-4  no  one  at  the  camp  except  the  two  Imivs,  All  hHnd:< 
had  ;rone  out  to  <'elehratc  I)oi(iinion  Dnv,  Jul.v  1,  or 
for  some  other  reason.  Harold  sean-hed  for  .Facfiues 
just  a.s  faithfullv  as  fhou{;h  thev  were  l)osotii  fr'ends. 
Finally  he  heard  cries  for  help  and  discovered  .lac<pie;< 
fast  in  a  steel  In-ar  trap.  The  Ixiy's  hand  was  caught 
and  his  fini;ers  crushed.  He  had  stoically  sutTerecl  and 
had  halloo<"d  for  help,  Imt  now  that  Harold  wa>  there 
he  would  not  ask  any  favors.  He  afterwards  said  that 
he  thought,  as  a  matter  of  ccmrse,  that  Harold  wnuld 
releasi-  him  at  once.  The  Yatik"«.  Un-  had  no  such  idea. 
He  made  the  French  youth  promise  to  Im>  pMxl  and  allow 
the  American  flajr  to  riy  over  the  camp.  When  he  had 
settled  everything;  he  got  a  birch  lever,  and  jtres.sing 
down  the  hufre  spriiifrs  that  clamp  the  ponderous  jaws  of 
the  iK'ar  trap  together,  he  released  his  rival.  There  was 
great  friendship  between  them  forever  afterwards,  and 
the  way  Harold  took  care  of  Jacques'  maimed  hand  was 
good  to  sec. 

The  lx)ys  at  camp,  as  boys  in  the  woods  always  do 
for  entertainment  and  relief,  and  by  l)oys  I  mean  all 
hands  young  and  old,  played  harmless,  though  sotmv 
times  disagreeable,  tricks  upon  every  visitor  that  they 
dared  subject  to  their  fun.  A  prominent  Chicago  doc- 
tor was  a  guest.  He  shot  a  young  ukkksc.  It  was  late 
in  August  and  the  two-year-old  hull  was  fat  and  juicy 
and  just  the  thing  f..r  «aiiip.      IJiil  il    was  too  good  a 


Ii3 


111 


212 


TIIK   IIJOX   Hl'XTKR 


chance  for  the  hovs  to  have  ^omc  fun  for  them  to  over- 
look. So  they  sent  word  to  Sudlinry  and  liad  the 
doctor  arn'stcd  h_v  fake  constahles,  not  only  at  Sudbury 
hut  at  several  towns  Ix-twccri  there  and  the  American 
lK)rder.  Even  after  the  Aii'iust  nioose-shiyer  had  gotten 
out  of  Canada  they  had  a  telegram  for  his  arrest  sent 
to  the  American  Sault.  liy  this  time  it  had  gotten  on 
his  nerves,  as  he  iiad  spent  nearly  two  hundred  dollars 
in  fees,  tips,  l.rihes,  eats  and  drinks,  and  had  obtained 
the  impression  that  the  Canadians  are  the  biggest  lot 
of  crooks  in  the  world.  To  escape  further  persecution 
he  hid  in  a  cellar,  and  left  town  towards  Chicago  on  a 
freight  train. 

It  was  a  long  time  before  he  discovered  that  he  lied 
not  sen  a  bona-fide  Canadian  constable,  which  did  not 
prevent  him  from  <-ontiiiuing  the  story  he  had  been 
telling  of  how  he  had  escaped  from  "the  Northwest 
Mounted  Police,  when  he  had  not  l)een  within  a  thou- 
sand miles  of  where  that  fine  body  of  men  operate. 

Upon  an  afternoon  in  early  Xovember  J)onaI<l  Mann's 
private  car  was  sid.'tracked  at  Sudburv.  He  had  not 
then  given  into  the  British  exchequer 'enough  to  liave 
been  made  a  knight,  so  he  was  just  plain  Dan  Mann,  a 
big,  wholesome,  industrious,  brave,  enjoyable  person. 
I  met  him  at  the  railroad  and  took  him  to  Moose 
Mountain. 

By  this  time  I  had  gouged  a  road  into  the  wilderness 
and  had  taken  in  drills,  Iwiler  and  other  machinery. 
The  road  was  not  a  Via  Appia  by  any  means.  It  clam- 
bered over  rocky  kopjes  and  ascended  a  great  no-ite 
dyke,  that  m  ly  form  the  northern  rim  of  a  huge  volcanic 
crater  that,  according  to  the  conjecture  of  some,  includes 
the  entire  Sudbury  nickel  formation. 

This  wall   of  rock  gave  us  a  wonderful  view  that 


EATING  MOOSE  MEAT 


213 


strained  the  vision  to  the  sky  line.  Not  a  soul  lived, 
or  ever  was,  where  the  sweep  of  eje  ranged  from  hill 
to  valley  and  lake.  Pointed  conifers  looked  like  so 
many  green  serpent  tongues  or  <>jirth  spearmen  mareh- 
ing  up  to  attack  the  hosts  nf  Jove.  Winding  over 
plains  and  across  muskeg  marshes,  where  the  eordurov 
floated  like  pontoons  and  the  horses  should  have  Wn 
shod  with  driving  calks,  the  l.lind  worm  trail  drew  us 
on.  My  companion  speculated  upon  the  agricultural 
and  timher  value  of  the  region,  and  has  had  his  roseate 
prophecies  already  justified.  We  crossed  several  creeks 
and  rivers  and  came  to  a  long,  flat  stretch  of  gold-bear- 
ing sands  carried  down  by  the  old  ice,  and  bv  the  west 
liranch  of  the  Vermillion. 

irpon  this  peneplain  grew  banksian  pine  and  blue 
berries  and  trailing  arbutus.  At  earlv  springtime  the 
air  is  laden  with  the  smell  of  heavv  sugars  of  blos- 
s.mis.  I  never  pass  a  sandy  stretch  similar  to  this 
one  that  I  do  not  especially  marvel  at  the  chemistry  of 
nature,  and  ask  where  does  the  floweret  growing  in  the 
white  sand  obtain  its  sensuous  breath  of  sweetest  garden 
love,  rare  enough  to  make  the  wild  rose  marry  the  wood 
violet  if  God's  nature  police  would  ]K'rmit. 

I  told  Mr.  Mann  about  a  dose  call  I  had  one  earlv 
morning  in  this  garden  of  epipea.  I  had  left  camp 
long  before  daylight.  Just  when  the  sun  made  the  iri- 
descent dew  drops  clinging  to  the  arbutus  sepals  hn.k 
like  little  fairy  soap  bubbles.  I  entered  this  drvadic 
stretch.  I  drank  the  morning  fragranc  i,,  all  it.  moist 
freshness.  It  seemed  to  me  that  I  could  taste  it  and  I 
believe  I  did. 

All  at  once  my  senses  refused  t<.  finicfinn.  or  else 
everything  took  on  su<-h  a  dead  average  of  delight  that 
I  could  neither  distinguish  nor  record  it.     Grofdv  for 


214 


THE  IKON  JIUXTEK 


more  of  the  nectar  I  frot  down  upon  my  hands  and  knees, 
and  crawled  aiuonj;  the  lush  flowers,  snifBnp  and  sniffing 
deep  rhinal  drafts  from  the  acres  of  pink  and  white 
eniarginate  clusters  that  carpeted  the  earth.  Pine 
needles  hore  up  the  liniry  vines  and  waxen  leaves,  and 
1  did  not  make  a  sound. 

What  is  it  tells  us  of  the  presence  of  the  unseen  ?  A 
subtle  something  registers  mysteriouslv  and  is  vaguely 
communicated  to  our  senses,  whereupon  we  uncon- 
sciously look  up  and  around.  This  happened  to  me 
while,  like  Xehuchadnezzar,  I  was  on  all  fours. 

Horror!  an  Indian  stood  with  leveled  rifle  pointing 
at  me.  * 

I  gave  a  whoop  and  he  gave  one  too. 

Then  he  started  to  run  away.  I  ordered  him  to 
stop  and  he  obeyed.  He  managed  to  make  me  under- 
stand that  he  had  taken  me  for  a  l)ear,  and  that  he 
would  have  shot  l)ef..re  only  I  kept  on  moving,  and  he 
waited  for  a  standing  sliot  to  make  it  sure.  When  he 
saw  me  as  a  man  he  was  greatly  frightened  because  of 
the  Indian  superstition  that  a  k-ar.  and  also  some  other 
animals,  may  turn  into  a  man. 

The  bear  is  nearly  always  an  Indian  avatar,  ^r 
was  the  Indian  aware  of  th<-  presence  of  a  white  man 
in  that  country.  It  was  a  close  call  indeed.  I  was 
glad.  The  Indian  was  glad.  I  gave  him  all  of  the 
tobacco  I  had  and  we  parted  good  friends.  Some  time 
later  I  saw  him  on  the  Abitibi. 


CHAPTER  XXV 


SIR  DONALD  MANN  PROPOSES  TO  USK  DOUBLE-BITTED  AXIS 
AS    WKAPONS    IN    A    DUKL    WITH    A    RUSSIAN    COUNT 

IEXJOYEI)  Dan  Mann  all  the  time.  He  was  as 
open  as  a  full  moon  and  looked  as  honest.  Our 
first  night  together  in  the  hig  woods  was  spent 
like  bovs  who  had  not  seen  eaeh  other  for  a  long  time. 
That  was  the  way  it  was  with  us.  for  w<'  hud  never  seen 
each  other  before  except  that  all  real  men  are  always 
bo\d  and  very  much  alike;  it  is  only  when  there  is 
something  the  matter  with  men  that  they  are  queer  and 
different.  W.-  talked  nearly  all  night.  He  told  me 
quite  fully  the  r  Tiarkahle  story  of  his  life  —  his  inter- 
esting association  with  ^NfcKenzie.  tlu>ir  very  modern 
financiering  and  much  of  the  business  miiiutise,  the 
mastery  of  which  is  by  some  standards  of  judging 
supposed  to  make  men  great. 

Both  McKenzie  and  Afann  had  started  as  poor  boys 
in  Canada.  Mann  did  not  go  to  school.  He  had  to 
work  or  starve.  In  the  winter  he  went  to  the  woods  as 
a  lumberjack.  One  winter  he  spent  in  Cheboygan 
(flinty.  Michigan,  making  ties.  He  became  a  fine  ax- 
man  and  expert  in  swinging  a  broad  ax. 

From  the  woods  and  the  ranks  of  a  common  section 
laborer  he  developed  in  early  middle  life  to  be  a  wizard 
of  industry,   and   a  transcf)ntinental   railroad  builder. 


The  McKenzie  and  ^fann  policy,  bv  which  th 


215 


lev  con- 


216 


TIIK  IRON   IH'NTER 


structed  disconnected  portions  of  riiilroads  across  tlic 
country,  and  obtained  nianv  small  land  ^'rauts  and  ho- 
niises  witlidiit  attractin^r  the  opposition  of  tlie  powerful 
Canadian  I'acilic  and  (Jrand  Trunk  pants  is  a  storv 
unexcelled  of  clever  husinc-ss  and  political  strategy. 
When  they  jrot  rea('y  they  just  connected  a  lot  of  blind 
Knnini  and  jo!  a  transcontinental  fabric.  When  it 
was  too  late  the  enemy  awakened.  Tliere  is  room  for 
:ill  of  them. 

I  think  it  was  our  second  nidit  tofjether  in  the  woods 
when  T  asked  him  about  a  duel  be  had  in  ('bina,  ac- 
••ordin^r  to  a  story  told  ,„e  i„  Tien  Tsin  by  Captain 
liicb,  then  .\nierican  railroad  engineer  for  the  Chinese 
government. 

"  It  was   .ucb   a  fool  thing,"  he  said,  "  and  I   was 
scared  to  death  and  could  not  see  any  humor  in  it  then. 
A  lot  of  us  had  gone  to  China  to  obtain  railroad  fran- 
chises.    The  railn)ad  building  world  was  represented: 
.\mericans,   British.  (Jermans,  Belgians,   Frencli,   Kus- 
siana  and  s..  forth,  in  Shanghai.     We  were  the  only  Ca- 
uadians  and  the  foreigners  never  knew  whether  to' class 
us  with  the  British  or  the  .Vmericans.     The  Chinese 
government  had  decided  tf.  l)uild  railroads.     Tliev  we.-e 
determined    thus   to   connect    Pekin    with    Canton,    via 
Hankow  on  the  Vaiigtse.     Captain  Kicb  of  Minneapolis 
bad  charge  of  things  for  Li  Hung  Chang,  who  was  then 
•  It  bus  zenith  of  power,  the  ol<l  rascal.     There  was  much 
delay.     We  were  nuikiug  our  beadcpuirters  at  Shanghai. 
"  Some  of  us  cond.ined  our  interests  and  finally  there 
wen;  several  pools  working,  one  against  the  other.      In 
the  evening  we  would  gather  at  a  place  on  Bubbling 
Well  Road,  which  as  you  know  runs  back  from  the  bund 
to  the  country  near  the  International  Institute. 

"  Here  we  would  play  a  stiff  game  of  poker,  driuk 


DUEL  WITH  A  RUSSIAX  COUNT      217 

Scotch  whiskey  and  josh  each  other.  I  had  it  in  ray 
ln'ad  all  the  time  that  a  Russian,  with  a  title,  who  was 
always  eager  to  sit  in,  was  crooked.  I  watched  liim. 
One  night,  near  twelve  o'clock,  when  several  wore 
woozy  with  booze,  and  several  were  not  who  pretended 
to  be,  I  caught  Mr.  Russian  holding  out  cards.  Ho 
uiisn't  as  big  as  the  Slav  average,  and  when  I  slapped 
liim  for  calling  me  a  liar  he  nearly  went  down.  There 
was  some  commotion,  which  soon  passed  over,  and  I 
went  to  ray  room  in  the  Astor  House.  Hotels  nil  over 
the  world  were  named  in  those  days  for  the  old  lower 
F^roadway  Astor  House  of  the  forties. 

"  Next  day  I  re<>eived  a  challenge  to  fight.  It  made 
iiKj  nervous  enough.  Not  b<>ing  what  is  culled  a  natural 
born  gentleman,  I  was  all  the  more  anxious  to  conduct 
ii;yself  becomingly.  I  had  never  had  a  pistol  or  a 
-^word  in  my  hands,  and  I  felt  squeamish  in  my  abdo- 
men whenever  I  thought  about  it.  Nothing  todo  but 
to  go  to  a  Shanghai  friend.  He  asked  me  what  weapons 
I  knew  how  to  use  and  told  me  it  was  my  privilege  to 
<lioose.  I  told  him  I  had  never  had  any  practice  with 
anything  except  a  pick,  shovel  and  ax. 

'*  My  friend  advised  me  to  select  doublebitted  axes 
as  weapons. 

'*  I  knew  [  could  easily  cut  the  Russian's  head  off 
with  an  ax  and  1  fancy  he  thought  so  too,  because  his 
agent  said  they  would  not  even  consider  a  fight  with  such 
weapons ;  that  they  were  vulgar  and  did  not  come  within 
the  code  duello. 

"  My  friend  told  him  that  in  Canada  the  ax  was  a 
weapon  of  chivalry;  that  it  was  classical  to  speak  of 
burying  or  digging  up  the  hatchet,  meaning  a  small 
ax,  and  that  it  was  the  sword  that  was  vulgar,  citing 
that  tlicy  use]  it  t(,  cut  corn  with  and  butcher  hogs. 


If 
J: 


218 


THE  mOX  HUNTER 


"  Tlipro  was  miioh  parloyin£r.  Wo  stuck  for  the  ax 
and  tlic  dticl  was  off.  As  the  Russian  hacked  off  I  got 
vcrv  hliMul-thirsty,  and  pictured  nivself  constantly  as 
swin^riiijr  at  his  neck  just  at  the  coHar  button  with  a 
five-pound,  doiihle-ed^ed  ax.  Perhaps  he  had  a  wart 
on  his  tieck.  If  so  1  would  split  it  clean  through  the 
center." 

Goiiij;  over  Moose  Mountain  lands  seemed  to  be  a 
more  or  less  perfunctory  work  for  ^fr.  ^Mann.  He  was 
larf,^'  anil  heavy,  and  had  been  riding  in  a  private  car 
too  much  for  the  good  of  his  wind.  I  sliowed  him  the 
biggest  outcrop,  a  veritable  mountain  of  ore  it  looked, 
and  took  him  to  .several  exposures  I  had  stripped,  and 
also  showed  him  many  diamond  drill  cores. 

"  What's  the  use  i ''  he  puffed.  "  That  first  big  show- 
ing is  enougli  and  to  spare  if  we  can  agree  on  a  prieo, 
and  all  tin;  rest  is  velvet." 

I  did  no.  know  that  a  visitor  from  Paris  that  I  had 
entertained  at  Moose  Mountain  for  some  days,  and 
who  seemed  deeply  interested,  was  really  an  expert  for 
!^^cKenzie  and  !^^ann. 

They  wanted  the  property  for  financing  purposes. 
With  it  they  could  make  a  .strong  showing  of  the  wealth 
surely  existent  in  the  unknown  domain.  Cobalt  was 
just  beginning  to  make  known  its  fabulous  riches  in 
silver.  It  would  be  easy  to  make  an  exhibit  that  would 
enable  them  to  obtain  all  the  money  they  desired. 

In  this  way  I  sold  my  Mtwsc  Mountain  interests  for 
enough  to  insure  a  modest  independence,  and  to  per- 
mit me  to  live  such  life  of  study  and  readiness  for 
public  service  as  I  might  cho«,sp. 

McKen/.ie  and  Mann  built  many  miles  of  railroad  by 
way  of  connecting  their  transcontinental  links,  and  in 
doing  .so   they   opened   this  great   mining  region.     A 


DUEL  WITH  A  RUSSIAN  COUNT      219 


branch  to  Key  liilct,  f)n  Cicorjriari  Bay,  pave  them  a 
harbor  and  place  for  ore  d<><-ks  and  wator  shipment, 

^Ir.  Mann  volnnfcercd  to  name  for  me  the  town  that 
wonid  prow  at  ^foose  Mountain.  Mr.  Sellwood  de- 
sired the  lioiior.  I  diil  not  know  this.  To  me  it  was  a 
small  matter  indeed.  When  Mr.  Sellwood  broached  it 
to  Mr,  !Mann,  the  latter  rememl)ered  hi.s  promise  to 
me. 

'^  That's  nothintr,"  said  the  former,  "let's  play  a 
piime  of  seven-np.  Yon  represent  Oslxirn.  If  I  win 
the  town  will  be  given  mv  name;  if  von  win,  call  it 
Osborn." 

Sellwood  won  and  I  am  phui  <»f  it.  He  lias  a  pood 
many  monuments  and  deserves  them  all. 

My  first  thoupht  when  '  received  the  money  from 
Moose  Motmtain,  was  of  try  wife.  She  had  .stood  by 
valiantly  from  twelve  dollars  a  week  and  wolves,  until 
now  we  had  (piite  enoupli  to  enjoy  life  with;  not  that 
life  had  not  been  enjoyable  all  the  time,  U'cause  it  had 
lieen. 

I  made  and  carried  out  plans  tn  help  all  our  relatives 
who  iseeded  help.  This  included  the  haj»{)y  privilege 
of  insuring  the  comfort  of  my  mother  for  the  remainder 
of  her  wonderful  life  of  sTitfering  and  service.  I  also 
made  provision  for  continuing  the  care  of  two  brothers, 
who  were  entirely  dependent  upon  me  h<'cause  of  com- 
plete invalidism. 

There  was  neither  disinclination  to  do  these  things, 
nor  self-praise  for  the  performance.  It  seemed  to  me 
to  be  a  clear  and  pleasing  duty.  T  had  lu'en  blessed 
with  means  and  health  and  they  had  not.  Perhaps 
(Jod  had  given  me  some  for  them  an<l  made  me  a 
trustee.  I  thought  He  had,  and  that  I  owed  it  to  them. 
Then,  too,  I  could  not  tell  why  I  was  not  in  flieir  place 


i-f 
\0 


220 


THE  TROX  HLTXTER 


and  they  in  mine,  so  I  was  dotorminod  to  treat  them  as 
1  would  have  wislicd  to  liavc  iM-en  treated  if  our  condi- 
tions had  been  reversed. 

My  younfrest  hmther  William,  possessin^r  an  alert  and 
acute  intellect,  has  been  conipletelv  iK'dridden  for  years 
and  has  suffered  severe  pain.  Throuj^hout  all  of  it,  and 
the  prospects  no  In'tter  for  as  Ion;;  as  he  lives,  he  has 
been  a  cheerful  Christian  with  the  best  personal  phi- 
losophy 1  have  ever  known  about. 

From  titrie  to  time  I  have  jrivcn  thin^rs  to  my  home 
town,  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  ^richisran.  which  has  always 
shown  nie  a  sympathy  and  friendship  and  support  that 
would  be  a  ntHcient  reward  for  any  man,  no  matter  if 
his  deserts  were  easily  much  f;reater  than  mine;  and 
an  inspiration  as  well.  In  return  for  its  attitude  I 
loved  the  town  and  all  its  people,  and  nurtured  always 
in  my  heart  a  desire  to  do  thiiiirs  for  it.  I  could  not 
give  it  much,  but  I  could  do  what  lay  within  my  power 
to  show  my  appreciation.  Karly  in  my  travels  I  l)epan 
to  select  curios  for  the  tine  Melville  museum  in  the 
hi^h  school.  Once  in  .Fapan  I  procured  the  first  stone 
torii  ever  sent  to  America  and  also  several  Shinto  me- 
morial lanterns.  These  artistic  thinjrs  are  in  the  gov- 
ernment park  at  the  Sault. 

In  Bucharest  I  saw  a  bronze  lupa  di  Roma,  the  she 
wolf  that  gave  mothering  care  to  liomulus  and  Rerau.s. 
It  was  given  by  the  city  of  Rome  to  the  city  of  Bucharest 
to  commemorate  the  conquest  of  the  Dacians  by  Trojan. 
I  iiad  a  duplicate  cast  at  Xaples,  which  now  occupies  a 
place  in  the  city  hall  grounds.  It  s,\-ml)olizes  the  tender 
relation  between  animals  and  mankind,  and  their  inter- 
dependence. Italians  at  Sault  Ste.  iMarie  at  once  par- 
ticularly sensed  its  classical  bearing.     A  miniature  rep- 


DUEL  WITH  A  RUSSIAN  COTTXT      221 

lica  of  this  wolf  in  gold  was  recentlv  given  to  Mrs. 
Wo(.drow  Wilson  bv  the  cifv  of  llnuv. 

When  Etiemip  Briile  caiiu'  to  Suult  St.>,  Marie  in 
I'JIH.  ho  found  the  majestic  river  hank  thuiki-d  hv  great 
elms,  indigenous  here.  Long  ago  ahnost  all  of  these 
paid  tribute  to  the  axmen.  who  might  easilv  have  spared 
these  noble  trees,  but  did  not.  To  restore  the.ri.  and 
also  eure  a  treeless  eity,  I  gave  a  thousand  voung  elms. 
Several  hundred  are  growing  findv  and  in  a  few  vears 
will  ehange  and  improve  the  appearance  of  the  town. 

As  a  tired  ho.v  in  Alihvaukee  [  often  slept  on  Snndav 
morning,  in  a  room  near  St.  James  Episcopal  riiurch, 
until  the  chimes  of  .St.  .lames  would  awaken  me.  Then 
I  would  lie  and  listen,  and  half  awake  I  would  dream 
things.  My  room  was  in  a  cheap  tenement,  back  on 
("lybourne  Street.  St.  James  is  on  stately  Grand 
Avenue. 

It  was  then  the  church  of  Alexander  Mitchell  and 
other  milliomiires.  Across  from  it  was  the  Mitchell 
mansion,  and  near  to  it  on  the  east  was  the  rich  home 
of  James  Kneeland.  with  well-kept  grounds  and  swaiis, 
and  ducks  with  red  mandibles,  tloatiiig  in  a  miniature 
mirror  lake.  It  was  then  all  another  world,  and  T  felt 
awed  by  it.  This  did  not  curb  my  dreams.  Some  dav 
I  would  give  chimes  to  some  town,  and  they  would  be 
heard  by  other  poor  boys  whose  hearts  would  he  made 
glad  and  light  by  the  songs  of  the  Mh. 

B.>t*er  chimes  than  those  and  better  plaved,  and  more 
and  larger  bells  —  eleven  in  all  —  hang  in  St.  James, 
of  Sault  Ste.  Marie.  That  is  how  I,  a  Presbvterian, 
eame  to  crive  the  Iwlls  fn  an  "Fr^;a«^r.„i  „i — ^i  xt_^ 
more 
creed. 


fir' 

1; 


grand  would  they  peal  forth  for  any  name 


or 


'>')•) 


TIIK  IKON   III'MKK 


Ifow  iiri"  v.c  niov.-d  alx.ul  like  clurkcrs  <»n  tlic  hoard 
f>J  III.'.  .Mv  ijnir  Iriciul,  tlic  m-tor  of  St.  .hiiucs  of 
Sault  Stc.  Miirif  wlii-ii  tin-  hells  wt-rt-  hun^'.  i>  now,  aa 
1  wril.-,  the  m-tur  of  St.  .laiii.-s  of  Milwuiiki'f.  But 
thf  pridr  ijij.i  jHUvtr  of  vc.si.nlav  art-  jrom'  for  St.  .lames 
o»  Alil\saiik«f.  and  it  is  a  U'lin-  and  more  useful  church. 
1  lo\f  it  for  those  ch'uifs  of  long  ago. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 


WORLD    WORKKRS    IV    tRON    IN    ALL    A0E8 

TFIERE  is  no  way  of  uAVmp  mwrh  sihout  thr  ho- 
pinninp  of  tlic  iitr*'  of  iron.     Kifdion  middona 
and  hoaps  of  Hint  fliips  tt'II   tlic  storv  of  the 
service  of  bones  and  stones  all  over  the  world   where 
primitive  man  has  left  his  wild  kinderi::irt.-n  marks. 
Copper  implements  were  used  at  a  very  early  time,  and 
there  were  copper  shops  at  many  j)la('es  ahoiit  Lake  Su- 
perior where  the  native  metal  was  beaten  into  knives, 
spoons,    pans,    pots    and   other   utensils.     One   of  the 
larp'st  single  discoveries  of  prehistoric  copj)er  imple- 
ments was  made  at  Saiilt  Ste.  Marie,  at  a  place  once  an 
island  in  St.  Mary's  River,  but  now  an  esker-like  ridjre 
of  stream-washed  pravel  and  b<iulder9  that  marks  the 
topograpliy  of  the  town  from  west  to  east.      I  have  niv 
modest  home  on  this  old  ridire.     Sueh  finds  as  this  ..no 
of  well-made  articles  that  seemed  to  U-  harder  than  the 
native  metal   have  given   rise   to  the  common   hut  er- 
roneous belief  that  the  ancients  knew  how  to  teinfK-r 
copper,  an  art  lost  to  this  age.     The  outer  surfice  of  the 
beaten  copper  is  somewhat  harder  from  pounding  and 
water  and  air  hardening. 

But  almost  never  is  anything  of  iron  found  with  the 
stones  or  the  bones  or  the  copper.  This  is  not  because 
iron  was  not  wrouirht.  bit  Wause  it  is  more  perishable 
when  exposed  ro  oxygen,  either  in  the 


223 


or  water,  even 


224 


THK  I  HON   Hl'NTKR 


tliHii  wiKxJ  mi<lcr  <(>uir  foii.|ifin?m.  TIhtp  i->  reason  to 
MU'\v  tliiit  ir..ii-(ii;ikiii;:  wii-  tli."  first  w..rk  in  irwtiilH 
tluui'  l.v  iniinkiiid.  U'vuu^r  tlir  art  is  a.lvaiu-rd  iM^vond 
any  oflirr  arrion;.'  fli'-  \vli..||y  uncivilized  tribes  (.f  Africa 
and  in  oiImt  parts  of  the  world  wliere  jtrimifive  man  ex- 
ists to-day. 

From  Somaliland  to  Znlnland  in  Africa  I  found  iron 
lioes  and  iron  as»c;.'ai   |M.itifs  eonmion  amonjr  the  wihl 
natives.      The  inakinir  <»f  these  ^'ave  em|i|oyment  to  con- 
siderahh-   numlKrs  „f   |MrM.iis.      Tliere   was  a   distii.ct 
ehtss  of  iron  workers  in  every  trihe  of  any  size,  except 
amon^'  such  lowly  nne<  as  the  pifiny  Dokos  or  others 
of  their  nndevelop..,!  kind.      The  art  was  handed  down 
from  father  to  <on,  and   while  methods  were  similar, 
there  was  variety  in  th.'ni  and  al<o  a  ditf.-renee  in  skill.' 
They  smelted  or.-s.  and  d.>  so  yet,  except  where  seraps 
of  iron  ean  he  pr.M-nred.     Some  workers  n-  -d  stones  f..r 
hammers    and    hark-ti.d.    hard.iied    wood    f<.r    tonpa; 
others  had  iron  hammers  an<l  toners  .piite  well  fashioned.' 
Stone  anvils  are  used,  nnd  the  smith  iisuallv  sits  at  his 
work.     Sometimes  hollowed  sticks  of  woucj  were  used 
to  hold  the  cold  <'nd  of  the  piece  of  iron  that  was  lioinj? 
wrought.     Tallows  are  m<,st  often  made  of  the  hide  of 
an  ox  or  some  other  animal,  often  of  poat  skins.     In  ono 
corner  of  the  ha.i;  thus  formed  is  a  wcKKlen  pip,.  aUmt  a 
yard  long  and  \muid  in  air  tijrht  with  rawhide  thonps. 
The  other  end  of  the  skin  hag  is  fastened  to  pieces  of 
flattened  wood  forming  a  mouth  that  >liiits  ,juito  tight 
when  the  bellows  is  In-ing  operated.      This  was  done  hy 
hand,    the    smith's    assistant    holding   on    to    rawhid'o 
handles  above  and  Ix'low  on  the  wooden  jaws.      A  stone 
weight  on  the  wooden  pipe  holds  the  l»ellows  down  quite 
firmly.     Two  bellows  are  used.     By  working  them  al- 
ternately a  steady  blast  of  air  ni  considerable  force  is 


WOKLI)  WORKEHS  IX  IROX 


2  Of* 


scpurc'd.  A  clnv  tximul  (-(tmHff-i  tlic  w..n.l(.ti  pi|M'  outlet 
of  rhr  IhIIows  with  u  cliamiHl  tin-  Imilt  in  a  nuh-  forfp- 
in  the  ^'nmnd. 

For  smelt iii>r  iron  on-  a  larpcr  jmtribiT  of  Itrjlows  woro 
.•tiij»hm'(i.  Vcrv  often  I  found  al.aiidon.-d  ant  houses 
utilized  for  a  furiuiee  mid  the  natives  even  driv«'  out 
the  ants  and  use  their  forniidahle  forniiearies  not  onlv 
for  furnaces.  I)ut  also  for  frnuu  bins  and  even  for  huinali 
dwellijigs. 

Their  native  hcK-s  contained  pood  enouph  iron  so  that 
a  pun  maker  at  Hirminpham  ma<h'  an  Kntield  ritle  out 
of  some  that  Livinpstone  sent  to  Knphuid. 

Ahbe  R.K'hon.  of  France.  mendMT  of  the  Academies 
of  Sciences  of  Paris  and  Petershurph,  Astronomer  of 
the  Marine,  Keeper  of  the  Kinp's  Philosoi)hical  Cabinet, 
Inspector  of  Machines,  ^foney.  etc..  was  in  ifadapascar 
in  ITtlS.  Hefcrrinp  to  iron  ore  he  says:  *' Iron  mines 
of  an  excellent  ijuality  are  disiMTsed  in  preat  profusion 
all  over  the  island,  and  very  near  to  the  surface  of  the 
earth.  The  Malepaehes  break  and  pound  the  ore  and 
place  it  between  four  stones  lined  with  |M)tter's  elav; 
they  then  employ  a  double  wooden  pump,  instead  of  a 
I)air  of  bellows,  to  pive  the  tire  more  strenpth  (blast)  ; 
and  iu  the  space  of  an  hour  the  mineral  is  in  a  state  of 
lusion.  The  iron  produced  by  this  ofwration  is  soft 
and  malleable:  no  k-tter  is  known  in  the  world." 

Abbe  R(K'hon  was  a  wide  traveler  as  an  official  and 
scientific  observer.  In  his  opinion  the  ancient  Malap- 
asy  iron  furnace  was  peculiar  to  that  people.  Inci- 
dentally he  also  tells  an  interestiup  story  about  an  ad- 
venturer in  Afadapascar  who  buncoed  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin. Poor  Richard  pave  Benjowski  letters  of  recom- 
mendation which  ho  used  in  America  to  orpanize  an  ill- 
fated  expeditin.i  for  the  ^.ixure  of  ^T.-idaL^iscar.      Ben- 


22«i 


TilK  IK()\  HL'XTER 


jowski  was  killed  by  Fronch  maiii;    .         .vas  interested 
in  seeing;  tlic  spot  where  he  came  to  fp-ief. 

All  Africiiii  travelers  report  seeing  iron  ore  and  iron 
workers,  so  it  is  certain  that  it  is  distributed  all  over 
that  eoiifiiiciit.  I  t"(»und  big  outcroppings  of  iron  ore 
near  to  botii  coal  and  limestone.  Blue  hematite  .speci- 
mens that  I  hroufiht  out  and  had  analyzed  turned  out 
to  be  of  tine  He>.  .-iner  (puilify.  There  "s  no  iron  manu- 
facturing in  Africa  except  the  rude  native  o{)erations, 
but  it  is  entirely  possible  and  <'ven  probable  that  Africa 
will  supply  the  world  with  .steel,  as  it  surely  can  do. 
Even  now  there  is  a  considerabh'  shipment  to  America 
and  Europe  of  chrome;  iron  ore  from  the  mines  near 
Selukwe  in  Southern  Rliodesia.  The  only  other  large 
production  of  chrome  iron  ore  is  from  the  French  mines 
in  Xew  Caledonia. 

In  every  one  of  the  eighteen  provinces  of  China  a3 
well  as  in  Manchuria  there  are  deposits  of  iron  ore. 
I  have  visited  many  of  these.  Some  of  them  have 
been  worked  for  centuries  in  a  small  and  chunsy  man- 
ner, tiot  nnich  better  than  the  Africans  di<l.  Lack  of 
pumping  facilities  kept  them  on  the  .surface,  but  even 
if  piunps  bad  been  available  they  wotild  not  have  In-en 
used  on  account  of  feng  shui :  their  fear  of  offending 
the  earth  demons.  lioth  men  and  women  work  as 
miners.  The  men  are  paid  an  equivalent  of  four  to 
five  cents  in  our  money  and  tlie  women  two  to  six  cents 
for  a  day  of  eight  hours.  In  addition  some  rice  and  a 
vegetable  called  mi  so  are  served. 

A  little  whiK  lH>fore  he  died  Li  ITung  Chang  estab- 
lished a  steel  plant  near  Hankow,  the  first  one  in  China. 
It  was  a  kind  of  junk  affair  at  first,  but  has  been  im- 
j)r(  )ved. 

Iron  working  in  China  is  an  ancient  art  and  at  some 


WORLD  WORKERS  IX  IRON 


227 


i 

3 


I)orio(Is  reached  a  liigh  state  of  {Hrfeetion.  In  Chinese 
collections  I  saw  fine  coats  of  mail  for  man  and  horse 
made  of  delicate  woven  wire,  so  as  to  Ih-  light,  elastic 
an<l  etfective;  also  lances,  shields,  cliains,  traps  and 
other  things  made  before  guns  came  into  use. 

There  are  great  iron  ore  deposits  and  coal  measures 
in   Shansi,   Chi-li,    Shantung  and   Yunnan.     In   fact, 
there   is  more  or  less   iron  ore  in   all  of  the  diinese 
provinces.     The  iron  district  in  Shansi  and  extending 
iH'.vond  is  one  of  tin,'  largest  in  the  w..rld  and  will  some 
(lav  be  ii  source  of  world's  supply.     At  the  present  time 
very  little  is  being  done.     1  visited  a  number  of  surface 
workings  in  Shansi,  where  the  methods  are  crude  in- 
deed, although  they  do  produce  an  engraving  steel  of 
unexampled    hardness.     A    great    many    persons    were 
employed    in    iron    on-   mining   and    in    iron   making. 
'Iheir  condition  of  life  is  very  miserable  and  their  pay 
IS  less  than  two  cents  a  day  in  our  values.      Ignorance 
ajid  supers.      )n  seem  to  Im-  instruments  of  conservation 
in  China,  just  ;:s  avaric-  is  tin*  cause  of  feverish  destruc- 
tion in  our  country.     S.ine  day  the  world  will  turn  to 
China  for  iron  and  coal  and  the  vast  untouched  ((uan- 
tities  there  of  these  twin  necessities  will  Ik-  appreciated. 
During   101«1,   11.17   and   litis  .Japan  has  made  large 
l<»ans  to  the  Xorthern  Cliinese  government,  taking  as 
security  vast  mineral  concessions  c<jmprehending  all  of 
China's  known  iron  ore  tields.     It  is  even  charged  that 
dapan   took  advantage  of  the  world's  engrossment  in 
war  to  exploit  China.      If  the  Xorthern  forces  are  vic- 
torious in  the  civil  war  in  China,  a  final  title  mav  be 
obtained  by  Japan.      P.ut  if  the  Southern  armies  win, 
Japan  will  get  nothing;  lu.r  is  she  likely  to  pr.ifit  by 

a  compromise  that  seems  probable  iK-tweeti  Canton  and 
lJ,.i.:..         T . .        »  .    •  ... 


I'ek 


in. 


J; 


ipan  s  attenijif  i>  »  gjimblc  jn  iron  ore. 


■22S 


TlIK  lUOX  HUNTER 


r  spent  .sovoral  months  following;  the  tracks  of  Abbe 
TIiic  in  China,  and  the  trails  of  Marco  Polo  not  only  in 
China,  l»nt  in  other  countries  of  Asia.  l*olo  Ix'jran  his 
travels  in  !:,'<;().  In  that  ajre  his  tonrs  were  a  source  of 
world  wonch-r.  He  hrought  hack  to  Euroi)e  informa- 
tion of  incalculable  value  abiut  the  work  of  mankind 
in  the  (Orient  wliere  in  every  eliannel  of  activity  tht  re 
was  hijrher  development.  ^len  in  the  Orient  were 
thinking;  better  and  working;  with  their  hands  Ix'tter 
than  the  people  of  the  W(>st.  Europe  was  just  bepn- 
ninjr  to  see  the  dawn  of  a  new  day  after  centuries  of 
decadence  and  obliteration.  A  jrreat  many  pronounced 
Polo  an  impostor  and  discredited  his  reports.  Others 
iR'lieved  in  liim  and  thro\i,irh  these  Europe  was  to  have 
the  benefit  of  Polo's  travels  and  learninir.  It  is  aston- 
ishiiifi  how  many  of  the  modern  arts  in  their  develoj)- 
ment  in  the  western  world  can  be  traced  to  a  period 
ciM'val  with  the  j>ost-Polo  era.  Before  that  the  use  of 
coal  was  scarcely  known,  if  at  all.  in  Europe.  Irou 
makin<r  was  nearly  as  primitive  as  it  is  in  the  wilds  of 
Africa  to-day.  In  (liina.  Persia,  Arabia,  Turkey  and 
Imlia  Polo  learned  by  hearsay  or  actual  contact  and  ob- 
servation of  vast  deposits  of  iron  ore  and  of  most  won- 
derful handicraft  in  steel  of  the  finest  texture.  Con- 
cerninjr  these  thinjrs  in  the  kinjrdom  of  Kerman,  then 
recently  contiuered  by  the  Tartars,  Polo  re[)orted 
"  plenty  of  veins  of  steel  and  ondanique;  the  people  are 
skillful  in  making  steel  harness  of  war,  swords.  Imiws, 
<|uivers.  arms  of  every  kind,  bridle  bits  spurs,  needles, 
etc."  The  "  steel  "  mines  referred  to  are  probably  the 
Parpa  iron  mini's  on  the  road  from  Kerman  to  Shiraz, 
called  even  to-day  ^raden-i-fiilad  (steel  mine)  ;  they  are 
idle  now.  I  saw  old  Kerman  wea|Kms,  dappers,  knives, 
stirrups  and  other  tliinirs  made  from  steel,  of  exquisite 


WORLD  WORKERS  IX  IROX  229 

workmanship  and  more  than  justifvinp  all  of  Polo's 
prai'sp. 

It  js  not  quite  certain  what  is  meant  by  Polo's  "  ondan- 
Kjne."  Rannisio,  of  Venice,  often  asked  Persian  mer- 
chants who  visited  hitn  al.oiit  it.  Tliev  ajrreed  in  stat- 
Hiir  that  it  was  a  kind  of  .steel  of  "such  surpassing 
excellence  and  value  that  in  the  aneient  davs  a  man 
who  possessed  a  mirror  or  a  sword  of  andanicor  ondan- 
Kjue  repirded  it  as  lie  wf)uld  a  precious  jewel. 

The  sword  hh.des  of  India  had  a  ^reat  fame  all  over 
the  East  and  I  heard  them  referred  to  as  having  l^^en 
made  by  workmen  now  extinct,  with  whose  passing  also 
was  lost  an  irrecoverable  art.  At  Teheran  I  learned 
that  Indian  blades  and  considerable  fijie  Indian  steel 
had  been  imported  until  quite  recent  times. 

Ttesias  mentions  two  wonderful  Indian  swords  that 
he  frot  frr)m  the  Kinj;  of  P.Tsia  and  his  mother.  It  is 
not  unlikely  that  this  Hne  Indian  sfel  is  the  ferrum 
caudidum  of  which  the  Malli  and  OxvdracK  sent  one 
hundred  talents  weight  as  a  present  t..  Alexander  the 
(ireat.  Indian  iron  and  steel  are  mentioned  in  the 
Pcriplus  as  imports  into  the  Abyssinian  ports  and  to 
tuis  day  may  l>e  seen  fine  steel  spear  heads  and  imple- 
ments at  Dire  Doua  and  Addis  Abeba.  perhaps  relics 
of  those  ancient  imports. 

Ferrum  Indicum  appears  among  the  Oriental  prod- 
ucts subject  to  duty  in  the  Roman  tariffs  of  Marcus 
Aurelius  and  (\)mmodus.  Salmasius  notes  that  amonp 
tne  rare  Greek  chemical  writings  there  is  a  metallui^ 
gical  paper  "  On  the  Tempering  of  Indian  Steel." 

Edrisi  mentions  that  excellent  iron  was  produced  in 
the  "cold  mauntains"  northwest  of  .liruft.  In  the 
•lihiin  Xuina.  or  Great  Turkish  Geo-rapliv,  is  the  state- 
ment that  ihe  "steel"  mines  of  Aliriz.  on  the  borders 


230 


tup:  ikon  hunter 


of  Korman,  worv  famous.  Tcixcira  substantiates  this. 
Says  Edrisi:  "  Tlu'  Hindus  txccl  m  the  manufacture 
itf  inin  and  in  the  preparation  of  those  iufrredionts 
alonjr  with  which  it  is  fused  to  obtain  that  kiii(i  of  soft 
iron  wliich  is  usually  styie<l  Indian  strcl.  They  also 
have  workshoj»s  wherein  are  forced  the  most  famous 
sabers  in  the  w  )rhl.  It  is  impossible  to  find  anything  to 
surpass  the  edire  you  fjet  from  Indian  steel." 

Arabic  literature  contiiiiis  many  references  to  the 
fame  of  the  sword  blades  of  India.  Even  the  ancient 
poets  satifT  of  them  as  may  Ik'  rea<i  al>out  in  Freytafr's 
translation  of  Ilamasa's  collection  of  old  Arab  verse. 
Timnr  tised  Indian  blades,  and  had  for  his  o\ni  use 
a  Hindu  sword  of  matchless  tineness.  In  the  accounts 
of  the  ^lohammedan  compiest  of  India  and  on  down 
thron^di  the  reiirns  of  Akbar.  Shah  dahan  and  other 
Mutrhals,  the  Hindu  disbelievers'  exe<'Ution  is  referred 
to  as  beiufr  sent  to  .lihanmini  with  the  well-watered 
blade  of  the  Hindu  .-word.  The  sword  is  consequently 
personified  as  a  "  Hindu  of"  (Jood  Family,"  accordinir 
to  the  idea  that  a  dead  Hindu  reealcitraiu  was  the  only 
g(Mid  Hindu,  the  origin  no  doubt  of  the  American  phrase 
as  applied  to  the  American  aborijrine,  "  A  good  Indian 
is  a  dead  Indian." 

Throvighout  the  ^lalay  Archipelago  1  found  primitive 
iron  furnaces  siich  as  were  used  thousands  of  years  ago 
in  Arabia  and  India,  suggesting  that  they  were  per- 
hrj)s  inducted  by  Arab  traders.  In  Madagascar  I  saw 
a  different  type  tif  furnace  that  seemed  to  have  been 
originated  by  th(>  Malagasy.  Indeed  work  in  iron  has 
been  a  dignified  art  and  distinctive  industry  all  over 
the  world  for  multiplied  centtiries. 

Chardin  says  of  the  steel  of  Persia  :  "  They  combine 
it  with  Indian  steel  which  is  more  tradable  and  held  iii 


WORLD  WORKERS  IX  T RON- 


SSI 


prr.Mtpr  ostiinatinn."  Duprr,  a  huiidrod  ypurs  ago, 
writes  tluif  he  had  rliou^dit  tliat  tlie  faiiinu^  IVrsian 
Hal)ors  wore  made  fmrn  nrr  fnmi  rcrtaiii  niitirs  in  Khor- 
asaii.  but  tliaf  he  had  discovered  himself  in  error  in  tliat 
there  are  "no  mines  of  steel"  in  that  jirovinoe.  and 
that  he  had  learned  of  the  use  of  steel  disks  imported 
from   Lahore. 

Kenriek  suggests  that  the  "  briglit  iron  "  mentioned 
bv  Ezekiel  in  chapter  xxvii  as  among  the  wares  of 
Tvre,  must  have  been  Indian  steel.  Ixn-ause  mentioned 
in  coiuiectio:i  with  calamus  and  cassia  and  other  exports 
from  India. 

Pottinger  enumerates  steel  among  the  imports  from 
India  into  Herman.  Elphinstone  the  Accurate,  in  liis 
Caubul.  tells  how  much  Indian  steel  is  prized  in  Af- 
ghanistan. l»ut  that  t!ie  iK'st  swords  are  made  in  Persia 
and  in  Svria.  In  his  *'  History  of  India  *'  he  calls  at- 
trition to  the  fact  that  the  ancients  sought  steel  in  India 
and  that  the  oldest  known  Persian  |V)em  contains  praise 
of  it;  that  it  continues  to  Iw  the  material  used  in  the 
scintillating  scimitars  of  Damascus  and  Khorasan. 

An  old  Indian  officer  in  the  Hritish  service  found  no 
common  knowledge  of  steel-nuiking  among  the  p<'ople. 
He  tried  to  tell  a  native,  who  claimed  that  steel  ore 
and  iron  ore  were  separate  and  distinct  materials,  how 
steel  was  manufactured.  The  Indian  was  disgusted 
and  displayed  his  feelings  plainly  by  e.xclaiining: 
'*  Vou  would  have  me  believe  that  if  I  put  an  ass  in  tlic 
furnace  it  will  come  forth  a  horse." 

Paulus  .lovius  in  the  sixteenth  century  speaks  of 
the  high  repute  of  Kerman  scimitars  and  lance  points. 
The  blades  were  eagerly  sought  by  the  Tiirks.  Such 
was  their  uin^ual  reputation  for  quality  that  it  was  a 
common   l)oast   that   with  one  blow  a   Kerman   sword 


2:j2 


THE  IKOX   IIFNTER 


would  cleave  ii  Kiiropeaii  metal  helmet  witliout  turning 
the  e<l<;e. 

rmioiilitefllv  the  art  <tl"  i'iil)rii-atiiiir  tine  steel  and  of 
frenerall.v  utili/iiii:  iron  ore  was  IvUnwn  at  the  verv  dawn 
of  lii>ti)rv  and  is  even  preliistorie.  The  world  has 
shifted  its  skill  to  the  Oeeideiit.  Volnnies  are  required 
to  tell  the  storv  of  iron  ore  and  its  manufacture  in 
Kun»j)e,  where  tli«  (iernians,  Swedes  and  Knirlish  have 
rivalefl  each  other  in  methods  and  prodtiction.  Now 
the  ^'reat  industry  has  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  tind  its 
hifrhest  develojiment  in  Ixtth  (|ualit.v  and  volume.  The 
United  States  leads  the  world  in  iron  ore  production 
and  in  its  manufacture.  It  is  an  enviahle  position, 
with  many  inferdasliinir  responsibilities.  The  larfrest 
business  organization  in  the  world  is  devoted  to  the 
iron  industrv.  As  one  stands  illumined  by  the  furnace 
incandescence  in  some  vast  modern  forire  of  Vulcan, 
witii  its  wearinj;  human  machinery  and  its  ponderous^ 
but  delicately  adjusted  cranes,  dippers,  cars  and  rolls, 
all  moviufr  us  perfectly  as  watch  wheels  at  the  magic 
touch  of  .subtle  electric  currents,  he  cannot  escape  the 
wish  that  man's  relation  to  man  might  be  as  j)t'rfectly 
and  happily  arranged. 


niAPTER  XXVTI 


roNCE\TRATIO\  OF  LEAN  ORES  IN  THE  TMTED  STATES 

SIIlEIUTE MA(iXETITE  —  HEMATITE 

AT  snmo  of  the  jrroat  open  pit  mines  in  the  Mcsaba 
(ii^trif't  of  Mijiiiesofji,  sixtv  jmt  cent,  iron  ore 
lias  been  mined  and  loadccl  on  the  ears  for  less 
than  five  eents  a  ton,  even  ehar^iiijr  tn  eost  aeeount  the 
outhiy  for  removin^r  forty  to  sixty  feet  of  overburden 
that  eovered  th(!  ore  lense.  Wlien  this  is  taken  into 
eonsideration  and  also  the  added  faet  that  there  are 
ade(|uate  hiph  prade  ore  reserves  developed  and  unde- 
velojH'd  to  supply  the  world  for  a  hundn'd  years  and 
longer,  it  is  almost  ama/in<;  that  lean  ores  ean  l>e  profit- 
ably used  in  Ameriea.  And  yet  they  are.  The  bipb 
grade  iron  ores  known  outside  of  the  Tnited  States  are 
of  uncertain  volume,  and  those  in  the  Scandinavian 
arctics  and  in  lira/.il  and  China  are  not  advantageously 
located.  Consequently  what  are  regarded  in  this  coun- 
try as  lean  ores  are  esteemed  of  great  value  in  other  iron- 
making  countries. 

I  visited  the  magnetic  concentrating  plants  in  Lulea 
and  Dunderland  and  found  them  producing  a  high- 
grade  ore  by  concentrating  processes  that  are  successful. 
Far  more  unusual  and  interesting  is  the  successful  use 
of  lean  ores  in  America,  where  the  high-grade  ores  are 
not  only  plenteous  but  are  hn-ated  perftn-tly  for  both 
economic  mining  and  transj>ortation.  On  the  Meno 
minee  Range  at  Iron  ^loiuitain,  near  my  old  home  at 

'J33 


l':;  I 


TITK  IIION  IllNTKi: 


FIorciK'*-.   an   ore   niiiniiii:  iilM.ut    thirty   jwr  n-iit.   in 
inctiillic  iron  lia-  lM'«n  protitiiltiv  prodiicfd  nt  tlif  Tcwa- 
}»!<•  iiiiiic.     'riii>  (irt-  is  low  in  jtliosplidnis  and  liiirli  in 
silica   and   is   an    ideal    niixinjr   material    with    Mcsaha 
ores.     On  a  Minnesota  ran^c  thirty-live  ]hv  cent,  oros 
are   raised   to   tifiy-ei^dit    per  <-ent.   hy    wa-hinir.     Tho 
cintnsy  "frri/.zlies"  used  in  this   proi-css  are  nio-^t  ef- 
fective.    At   Dnlnth.   Haydon,  Stone  &  Company  and 
their  as.sociates  have  a  larj;o  experimental  plant  where 
majmetic  <ires  cnntaininjr  thirty  jx'r  rent,  of  metal  are 
enriclied  to  sixty-two  and  (me-half  per  cent,  hy  an  in- 
penions   electrical    treatment    perfected   hy    a    lloosier. 
They  treat  one  huiulred  tons  of  rocklikc  nniterial  a  day, 
which  is  finally  transformed  into  a  ri<-h  sinter  that  is  in 
demand.     This  mellmd  alone  will  make  it  possihie  to 
ntili/e  million-^  upon  millions  of  ton<  of  lean  mainietitc 
that  helts  Lake  Superior  like  a  containiiiiT  encasement. 
The  only  place  in  North  .\merica  that  sid<'rite  is  con- 
centrated is  at  the  Ma,trf»ie  Mine  on  the  Lake  Superior 
north  shore  in  Canada,  ahove  Sault  Ste.  Mari«'.     The 
sid<>rite  deposit-^  tlnTe  are  very  extensive.     They  are 
l(K'ated  in  a  wilderness  al>ounding  in  eariUu,  moose, 
Ix'ar  and  wolves  and  other  wildest  aninnils.  where  I  ex- 
plored for  s«"veral  years.      A  formidahic  plant  has  Iwen 
erected  for  the  treattnent   of  these  ores  hy  a  method 
adopte<l  from  Austria,  where  siderite  was  jarcely  and 
successfully   refined    before   the   war.     The  operations 
liave  been' of  especial  interest  to  American  miners  of 
iron  ore  and  metallurgists.     Althoufrh  new  and  most 
unusual  in  this  country,  the  ^lasrpie  siderite  operation 
presents  no  eomi>licaiions  and  is  it    fact  simple.     The 
roasting  is  done  in  regular  cement  kilns  eight  feet  in  di- 
iunoter.  one  hundred  twenty-five  feet  long,  inclined  one- 
half  inch  per  foot  and  rotated  once  in  two  minutes. 


CONX'ENTRATIOX  OF  LEAN  ORES     235 


! 


TIh'  oro  is  cnislu'd  to  alMmt  three  inehes  and  fed  into  the 
upper  end  of  tliis  kiln.  Tlie  lower  end  of  tlie  kiln  is 
fire<l  witli  powdered  eoal.  piilverized  so  that  ninety  per 
ecnt.  will  pass  a  two  linndred  niesli  sereen.  A  single 
pieee  of  ore  remains  in  the  kiln  alniut  three  hours;  that 
is,  that  is  the  lentrth  of  time  it  takes  for  the  ore  to 
work   its   way  from   the   intake  to  the  diseharpe  end. 

Ordinary  siderite,  without  any  sulphur  present  in 
the  form  of  pyrites.  re<|uires  very  little  heat  for  drivinf; 
otT  the  CO^  pas  an<l  ehan^nnp  the  ore  into  hematite. 
'J'liis  is  an  index  of  Nature's  methml.  JMagpie  ore  how- 
ever eontains  aWiuf  one  per  cent,  sulphur  and  v'xfxht  per 
eeiit.  lime.  As  the  lim«'  h.is  a  stronj;  af!inity  for  the 
sulphur,  it  re<|iiires  a  finishinp  temperature  of  ahout 
1  iiM)  defrrees  C'enti|rrade  to  dead  roast  the  ore,  that  is 
to  eliminate  all  the  sulphur.  At  the  Helen  Mine  in  the 
same  district  there  is  a  siderite  which  runs  somewhat 
hiirher  in  sulphur  than  alxtve.  They  exjx'rimented 
with  this  at  the  Majrpie  and  found  that  a  rotary  kiln 
will  not  satisfactorily  handle  the  ore  eontainiufi  over 
two  per  cent,  in  sulphur.  The  roasting  drives  otT  the 
volatile  and  at  the  same  time  reduces  the  sulphur  to  a 
point  suitahle  for  the  blast  furnace. 

The  siderite.  toirether  with  the  other  carbonates,  oc- 
curs as  a  band  standinsr  nearly  vertical  and  striking 
northeast  and  southwest.  This  band  is  broken  by  fold- 
ing and  faiilts  at  several  points.  The  width  of  the 
siderite  being  mined  varies  from  twenty-eiglit  feet  to 
sixty-two  feet,  the  average  width  being  about  forty -two 
feet.  The  carbonate  d<'|»osit,  a>  a  whole,  is  a  sedi- 
mentarv  bed  Ivinir  Ix'tween  a  series  of  acid  and  basic 


fl 


aws  an( 
itl 


soutli  IS  talcose  so 


1  tuiTs  of  volcanic  ori-Mti.      Tin-  wall  r(K'k  on  the 
hist  with  well  defined  sehistositv,  while 


on  the  north  it  is  an  ellipsoidal  basalt  showing  very 


236 


THE  luox  iirMKi: 


little  scliistnsitv.  Tlir  rontarts  nro  not  well  defined 
and  lire  not  cleun,  so  that  tnucli  care  is  necossarv  in 
mining  to  make  sure  that  no  ore  is  left  on  the  wall  and 
that  no  HH-k  is  hrokcu  into  the  stojH's.  rnderjrronnd 
lie  schist  on  the  soutli  wall  has  vt-rv  nineh  the  appear- 
ance of  the  ore,  hut  the  drill  cuttin^rs  from  the  holes 
jrive  a  ^ood  indication  i>{  when  the  wall  is  reached. 
The  hndy  heintr  mined  has  an  a|>|»ro.\imate  leiifrth  of 
i:{.'i()  feet.  The  cnrlMinate  hand  is  verv  much  lonirer 
than  this  hut  narrows  down  on  either  end  so  that  it  is 
not  found  jtrotitahle  to  mine  the  ore  except  in  this  anui. 
In  roastinir  th«'  siderite  at  the  Mairpie  there  is  a  loss 
in  volatile  »»f  ahout  thirty  per  cent,  hy  weight,  so  that 
nearly  three  tons  of  ore  have  to  he  mined  to  produce  two 
tons  of  tinislu'd  material.  Takinj;  this  into  <*(tnsidera- 
tion.  tof^ether  witii  the  fact  that  the  acttial  roasting  op- 
eration «'osts  are  considerahle,  it  was  necessary  to  devise 
a  very  cheap  mininjr  system  in  order  to  make  the  opera- 
tion as  a  whole  «-ummercialIy  successful.  Several  inin- 
inj;  methods  were  studied  and  approximate  costs 
worked  out,  hut  hefore  any  method  was  detinitely  chosen, 
it  was  decifh'd  to  sink  the  shaft  and  opt-n  up  drift.s 
on  two  main  haula^re  levels  to  detinitely  dc'termine 
the  nature  of  the  f^ound  and  the  laterial  to  be 
mined. 

The  shaft  was  therefore  started  on  the  north  side  of 
the  ore  l)ody  about  sixty  feet  fnuu  tiie  north  contact 
of  the  ore.  The  shaft  is  twenty-four  feet  hy  ei<;ht  feet 
in  the  rouji;h,  and  is  tindx'red  with  twelve  inch  by 
twelve  inch  sets,  so  that  the  inside  dimensions  are 
twenty-two  feet  hy  six  feet.  It  is  divided  into  four 
compartments,  two  skip  compartments  for  balanced 
Kimberly  skips,  one  eajre  compartment  and  (me  ladder 
and  pipe  way.     The  shaft  was  sunk  two  hundred  and 


COXCKNTKATIOX  OF  l.EAX  ORES     237 

five  ffi-t  to  I  III'  s(H'()ii(]  Ifvt'l.  It  WHS  «Ir«'i(Icd  to  uso 
fiKlitv-f(M»t  levels  and  to  l(  ivc  a  fort.v-fivo  foot  fl<K)r 
pillar  to  sprfiicc.  A  cros-cdt  was  run  on  each  It'vcl 
from  the  shaft  to  the  south  I'otitact  of  the  on*,  and  drifts 
started  from  hen'  in  <'itln'r  «lin'<'tion.  thi'se  drifts  follow- 
ing thp  s(Mith  «*onta<'t  a-*  nearly  as  |Mwsilil«'.  The  naturo 
of  tho  ore  passed  thronjrh  in  tlie-ip  <|rifts  was  closelv  ob- 
served and  samples  taken  and  analyses  iriade  for  each 
ten-foot  seetion  nf  the  drifts.  \o  timlxT  was  neeessarv 
iu  any  of  the  drifts,  l>nt  it  u  -*  noted  tliat  th«?  «tre  showed 
a  great  nJunlM-r  of  slips  or  eleavaire  planes.  These 
slips  have  no  p'lieral  direction  hut  iiitersin-t  eaeh  other 
at  all  anjrles  and  are  extremely  smooth.  In  sealing  a 
new  drift,  large  wedge-shaiH'  pieces  will  fall  out  from 
the  first  Mow  of  the  sealing  bar.  but  when  a  drift  is  once 
thoroughly  sealed,  very  little  material  lo<»seiis  from  later 
blasting.  On  aeecujut  of  this  feature  of  the  ore,  it  was 
neeessarv  to  determine  on  a  method  of  mining  which 
would  always  keep  the  miners  close  to  the  back  and 
under  cover.  It  was  therefore  divided  to  use  the  sub- 
level  stoping  system  in  mining  this  de|»osit. 

The  ore  l^nly  was  bhx-ked  off  into  three  stojK's  longi- 
tudinally, divided  opposite  the  shaft  by  a  fifty-foot 
-haft  pillar,  and  four  hundred  feet  west  of  the  shaft  by 
a  diabase  dyke,  one  hundred  feet  wide,  which  cuts  the 
IkmIv  at  right  angles.  This  gives  three  stopes  on  each 
level,  approximately  four  hundred  feet  long.  To  de- 
velop these  sto()es,  a  raise  is  p\it  up  at  each  end  of  the 
block  and  a  sublevel  run  to  connect  tho  raises.  The  first 
sub  is  eighteen  feet  above  the  level.  The  other  sublevela 
are  twenty-three  feet  from  floor  to  floor.  On  the  upper 
levels,  three  subs  are  used  between  levels,  but  below  the 
second  level  four  subs  are  used,  making  the  distaiioe 
between  levi'ls  one  hundred  and  three  feet.     After  the 


2.'J8 


TIIK  IKON  IirXTEH 


HtofM'rt  havj"  iKHti  developed  in  this  nuiimer.  iln'  rai^e  at 
the  end  of  the  hhx'k  nearest  the  shaft  i<  made  into  a 
permanent  hidder  and  pip*-  way.  Air  line>  are  rnn 
alon^'  the  tliMir  of  tlie  svihs  to  tlie  far  end.  and  mining; 
eommeiieed.  Macliines  are  -et  to  work  hreakin^:  down 
around  the  raise  ut  the  far  end  of  the  hhn-k  an<l  this 
o|)eninjr  !>«  enhirp'd  until  the  sfo|H'  is  eompletely  eut 
otF.  The  first  suh  is  tlien  drawn  haek  almut  tifty  to 
sixty  fe<'t.  My  keeping;  the  first  suh  haek  this  distanee, 
the  muek  does  not  run  into  the  faee.  This  also  jrives 
the  men  workini;  on  tliis  snl»  a  chanee  to  hand  hhist  a 
pro|M)rtion  of  tlie  larjrer  pieees  which  hn-ak  from  the 
upfx-r  U-nehes.  Most  of  these  drop  so  that  they  ean  he 
reached  from  the  first  suh.  Those  dropping  in  tin-  ojM'n 
stojM-  have  to  Ih'  hlasted  as  they  come  down  into  the 
ehutes. 

.\fter  the  stope  lias  In'en  eut  otT  from  wall  to  wall, 
.section  cutting  is  done  on  each  auh.  At  first  it  was  the 
intention  to  carry  the  suhs  step  fashion  with  the  upper 
suhs  overhan^riiiiu'  the  lower  ones,  hut  the  jrround  was 
found  to  Ih'  so  full  of  cleava^re  planes  that  these  over- 
hanjiinj?  Ikmu-Iics  fell  when  hlastinj;  out  the  swtion  out, 
so  that  now  all  the  suhs,  except  the  bottom  ones,  are 
carried  hack  tojjether,  the  face  of  the  sto|M'  iM'injr  ver- 
tical. In  section  cutting  the  stope,  the  machine  is  set 
up  in  the  suh  and  an  eijrht-ftMit  hotwh  hlasted  off.  This 
re(iuires  five  holes,  two  in  front  and  three  iM-hind. 
These  holes  are  aliout  seven  feet  de<'p  and  break  to  the 
bottom.  Very  little  nmckinfr  is  necessary  for  the  next 
set-up  and  little  sealinjr  as  the  back  is  only  eight  feet 
high.  This  section  cut  is  carried  from  wall  to  wall 
and  the  stop<'  holes  an'  drilled  in  the  bench  below  from 
the  same  set-ups.  The  back  holes  are  drilled  with 
atopers  after  the  section  cut  has  Im'cu  completed.     The 


COXCEXTRATTOX  OF  LEAX  ORES     2.19 

whole  faco  of  thv  »to]n>  U  then  blasted  off  with  a  battery 
shot.  Very  little  |>.)\vdcr  is*  rr<|uirod,  either  in  the  sec- 
tion riit  or  in  the  stojH'  blast,  as  there  is  always  an  open 
fiieo  to  break  to.  When  a  stf)p<'  on  one  level  has  been 
•  Irawn  bark  tt)  the  starfin^r  raisi'.  the  eliutes  are  taken 
ont,  rails  and  pijM'  lines  rein(»ved  and  the  main  level 
used  as  a  sub.  In  this  way  all  miiekinf;  is  avoided. 
The  ore  reniaiiiiiijr  in  fh«'  l)oftom  of  one  level,  whieh 
will  not  run  out  of  the  chutes,  is  dropped  to  the  level 
Im'Iow.  On  the  lK»ttuni  sub  no  back  boles  are  used,  ex- 
cept in  the  corners  of  the  stop<',  as  this  sub  is  earried 
higher  than  the  rest,  thus  leavinp  a  thinner  space  be- 
tween it  and  the  s<'con(l  sub.  The  rail  and  pif)e  lines, 
removed  from  the  level  which  is  drawn  back,  are  used 
on  the  lower  level  in  the  development  work,  so  that  very 
few  new  pijn-s  or  rails  are  recjuired. 

On  the  main  haulape  level,  crosscuts  are  run  off  the 
main  drift  at  twenty-five  feet  intervals.  Raises  are  put 
up  from  these  crosscuts  so  that  the  raises  are  spaced 
al)out  twenty-five  feet  cetiter  to  center  each  way.  These 
raises  extend  only  to  the  first  sub.  Ordinary  round 
timlK?r  chutes  are  used  in  these  raises,  with  three  inch 
round  birch  stoppers.  A  lar^je  amount  of  blasting  is 
necessary  in  the  chutes  at  times  on  account  of  the 
Ijenches  coming  down  in  large  pieces,  but  otherwise  no 
trouble  is  exp(!rienced  in  loading  ears.  All  tramming 
is  done  by  hand,  two-ton  cars  being  used  on  a  grade 
of  one  per  cent,  in  favor  of  the  loads.  They  have  done 
away  with  cross  switch«'s  for  spotting  cars  at  the  shaft. 
Tn  place  of  them  they  use  a  truck  ninning  on  rails  in  a 
shallow  pit  transversely  across  the  station  and  al)out 
twelve  feet  back  from  it.  Cars  can  be  run  onto  this  track 
'rom  any  track  and  spotted  for  either  skip  track  or  the 
cage  track  as  may  be  required.     All  out-bound  loaded 


•240 


THE  IRON*  IIUN'TEU 


t-ars  oonip  up  tlif  main  rrossfut  on  the  one  track.  The 
lead  for  Xo.  1  skip  lies  with  this  niiiin  line.  Cars  to 
(lump  in  No.  1  skip  conio  up  the  main,  ornss  the  maek- 
inaw  onto  this  h'ad  and  dump  dir»'«'tly  in  the  skip. 
F{eturninp  thev  are  backed  onto  the  mackinaw,  which  ' , 
then  sjKitted  for  the  return  track,  thronjjli  a  spring 
switch  out  onto  the  main  line  and  hack  in  ajrain  for 
loadinp.  This  spring  switch  is  the  only  real  switch  on 
the  level. 

Under  ordinary  conditions,  trammers  dump  their 
own  cars,  hut  when  for  any  reason  it  is  necessary  to 
speed  up  the  hoisting,  a  gang  of  dunifx'rs  (two  men), 
are  put  on  at  the  shaft.  Trammers  coming  out  leave 
their  cars  on  the  nuiin  line  and  go  hack  with  an 
empty  from  the  return  track.  The  gang  at  the  shaft 
handles  cars  on  the  mackinaw,  dumps  tliem  and  shoves 
them  down  the  return  track.  Working  in  this  way, 
four  hundred  to  four  hundred  and  tiftv  skips  can  easily 
be  sent  up  in  a  shaft. 

The  siderite,  as  a  whole,  in  the  Magpie  ore  body  is 
the  usual  light  colored  ore  with  a  slightly  pink  tinge 
due  to  the  manganese  carlnmate  rhodochrosite,  but  on 
either  side  of  the  diabase  dyke,  cutting  the  body,  the 
siderite  is  changed  to  a  dense  black  ore  much  re- 
sembling fine  grained  magnetite.  In  the  white  siderite, 
the  volatile  runs  akmt  thirty-two  per  cent.,  but  this 
volatile  gradually  decreases  near  the  dyke  until  it  is  as 
low  as  twelve  per  cent.  The  carbonate  here  contains 
considerable  magnetite  and  tlie  iron  content  of  the  ore  is 
higher  than  in  the  light  colored  ore.  The  black  ore  is 
exceptionally  hard,  so  hard  in  fact  that  a  three  and  one- 
fourth-inch  piston  drill  will  drill  only  from  five  to  six 
feet  of  hole  per  shift.  The  character  of  the  ore  changes 
gradually  as  the  distance  from  the  dyke  increases,  so 


CONCENTRATION  OF  LEAN  ORES     241 


-1'ndrcd  feet  from  the  djke  the  siderite 


that  at  alxMit  o' 
is  ill!  \vhit«'. 

The  ore  is  h  J  with  two  balanced  Kimberly  skips, 
which  have  a  ..-pacitj  of  two  tons  each,  and  dump 
directly  into  the  (rusher.  The  hoist  consists  of  a  six 
foot  drum,  coned  at  each  end  and  geared  to  ir>0  TT.P. 
wound  motor,  three  phase,  induction  motor.  Tliis 
motor  is  remotely  controlled  and  automatically  protected 
iiirninst  overload injr.  It  is  only,  of  course,  when  hoist- 
ing' from  the  IxUtora  level  that  the  cone  on  the  drum  is 
nf  any  use,  but  the  motor  has  no  difficulty  in  starting  a 
loaded  skip  from  any  of  the  intermediate  levels,  even 
though  no  chair  is  used  and  the  full  load  is  hanging 
on  the  rope  at  the  start.  The  full  load  speed  of  the 
motor  gives  a  rope  speed  of  seven  hundred  fifty  feet  per 
minute. 

The  signal  to  hoist  the  skip  is  given  to  the  hoistman 
l>y  a  bell  which  can  be  rung  from  one  level  —  namely 
the  one  from  which  the  most  tramming  is  being  done  at 
that  time.  A  skijvtcnder  is  stationed  there  and  the 
other  levels  ring  to  him  when  they  want  the  skip,  or 
when  they  have  finished  dumping  their  car,  and  he  re- 
lays the  sigmil  to  the  hoist  man. 

The  crusherman  feeding  the  No.  S  cnisher  also  has 
a  switch  by  which  he  can  ring  the  hoistman  in  case 
trouble  with  the  crusher  occurs  and  ho  wants  to  stop  the 
skip  before  it  dumps.  This  switch  also  gives  the  same 
signal  to  the  skip  tender,  so  that  he  knows  that  the  skip 
has  been  stopped  at  the  crusher.  This  stopping  for  a 
minute  or  two  is  fairly  fre(|ueiit,  as  a  big  chunk  of  ore 
often  has  to  b<>  broken  with  a  hammer  More  it  will  go 
into  the  crusher. 

The  skips  dump  into  a  No.  8  gyratory  crusher,  which 
breaks  the  ore  to  al)out  <ix-iiich  rinur.     The  black  ore 


242  TIIK  IKON   Ill'XTEK 

from  nrar  tlu-  diabasf  dvkc  is  cxrcptioiially  hard,  so 
hard  that  in  fact  tlic  cast  imn  spidrr,  whii-h  is  prac- 
tically always  siipjjlird  with  these  inachiius,  was  not 
stroiifr  cnoufih  to  witlistaiid  the  strain  and  had  to  be  re- 
placed hy  a  cast  steel  one.  Below  the  No.  S  crusher, 
tlie  ore  j)asses  «)ver  a  set  of  grizzly  bars  and  then  to  two 
No.  .'.  jjyratory  crushers.  These  are  set  to  alK)ut  three 
inch,  and  from  these  the  ore  is  carried  on  a  twenty-four 
inch  conveyor  Im'U  to  the  storap'  liins  in  the  roast  plant. 

The  roasting  kilns  are  eipht  feet  hy  one  hiuidred 
twenty-tive  feet  long  and  lined  with  nine-inch  hard  hre 
brick.  The  fuel  used  is  |K)wdered  slack  coal  which 
gives  a  temi«'rature  of  alxnit  IKtO  degrees  Centigrade 
for  al)OUt  twenty  feet  in  the  kiln.  This  is  not  liot 
enough  to  make  the  ore  sticky  and  is  sufllcient  to  drive 
off  the  COa  and  nearly  elimiiuite  the  sulphur. 

After  passing  through  the  roasting  kilns,  both  the 
light  and  dark  c<»l<ired  ores  have  the  same  appearance 
and  are  not  distinguishablf  in  any  way.  Th»'  tinished 
ore  is  nearly  black  in  color,  and  comes  out  of  the  kilns 
in  a  very  porous  condition,  in  rounded  lumps  about  two 
inches  in  diameter,  the  large  pieces  breaking  up  when 
passing  through  the  kiln.  This  tinished  product  has 
the  following  coiujMisitiou  and  is  admirably  suited  f<»r 
the  blast  furnace  both  on  account  of  its  physical  coudi- 
tiou  and  its  chemical  composition: 

Fe 50.00 

Phos <'13 

Silica  9«0 

Manganese    ^-"^S 

Alumina    ^•'■^^ 

L'lmo    3[;9 

Magnesia    ""^ 

Sulphur  136 

Loss  on  Ign 000 


i 


CONCENTRATIOX  OF  LEAN  ORES     243 

So  here  an  ('lulH)rntp  and  relatively  costly  mining  and 
roasting  system  enriches  from  tliirty  to  fifty  per  cent, 
an  ore  never  before  used  in  America,  and  it  i>;  done 
protitablv.  I  have  gone  info  rather  technical  details 
kf'ause  the  entire  operation  is  a  unicpie  innovation  in 
America.  It  will  be  at  once  concluded  that  American 
ore  reserves  will  be  sutficient  f»»r  many  centuries.  In- 
asmuch as  the  late  J  anus  .1.  Hill  predicted  exhaustion 
in  a  couple  of  decades,  this  furnished  a  satisfying  con- 
trast. America  manufactures  nearly  three  quarters  of 
the  steel  and  iron  used  by  the  world.  That  this  will 
continue  almost  without  limit  as  to  time  and  alwavs 
disproportioiuitely  increasing  in  favor  of  this  country 
does  not  admit  of  reasonable  doubt. 


^Pia««M 


mmmm 


rnAPTETJ   XXVTTT 

ArriDFXTAI.     ItmiTNK.S     lUoM     lU'iS    ORF. 

Til  K  tiilr'  (if  linw  forttuH"^  wen-  made  l»y  many  mon 
ill  the  T-akf  Sn|i<rior  initi  nff  raiisr<'!<  i>  a  >riirv 
of  fiirfuitiiii-  liapjH'tiiiii;-.  An  iroji  nn-  forma- 
tion siirrou.uls  Lake  Sui'friir  nnrtli  and  sontli.  Flio 
fir<t  dix'ovcrii'-  wiTf  made  in  Micliiu'an.  Later  tin- 
.Mi'salia  and  otlnr  raiiirrs  oiicncd  in  Minnesota  |iiaf<'d 
tl'  it  State  in  tli<'  leadinir  plaee  in  ir-.n  ore  production 
in  the  worlil.  Aliiio-t  witiiont  exeejiti. n  tln'  iron  di~- 
triets  \vei-e  in  reirioii~  covered  li\  iri'at  toie-i>  ot  xuL'in 
wliite  pine  —  I'ittus  .slriihiis:  '|'ln-e  tret-  in  instances 
;rre\v  to  iireat  ]iro|)ortion>.  Some  of  litem  me;i.-.nri'd 
more  than  -ix  feet  in  diameter  at  the  !i,i-c.  So  li<rht 
ami  perfect  in  texture  were  the~t  hi^r  tee-  that  they 
were  calle<l  cork  pine.  hriviuL'  -neairis  threaded  the 
pinerie-  on  their  way  to  the  (Ireat  Lake-.  '1  he-e  su|)- 
plied  iran>portation  to  naviirahle  waler>  for  the  loirs. 
Natnrallv  the-e  fore.-is  early  attracted  th<-  attention  of 
InndM-rmen.  Wiien  the  pineries  in  .Maine  Kepin  to  ho 
exhan>ted.  hanly  Yankee-  of  character  and  conrairc 
from  the  Aiiilio-coL'^j^in  came  to  Michiiran  after  lluir 
idea  of  a  ^n>iden  Heece.  'I'hey  "look  up"  vast  tracts 
(d'  iami  from  tlie  (iovernment  aloui:  tlie  Sasrinaw.  tho 
Tittaliawassee,  tlie  Shiawa--ee  and  oiht  r  l.ower  Tenin- 
-nhi  river-.  .Mo-i  alway-  tliese  laud-  were  "  entered  " 
at  a  doMar  and  a  quarter  an  acre.  15ol<hr  -|iiril-  for<ri'd 
to  ttie  imrthward   into  the  v.dley-  of  ttie    rali'iuamenon 


ACCI I  )E X  r  A  L  K( )HTr X KS 


245 


and  the  Mrnomitu'c.  iind  on  westward  to  the  Wisconsin 
Itivor  counfrv  iind  tlicii  into  Minticsotjt.     When  tiic  tim- 
Imt  ciiiiu'  into  thf  niiirk«t  it  was  looped,  floated  down 
Htrcam  to  sawmills  and  cut  into  lumlHT.     Onlv  the  very 
ehoiccst,  and  that  nearest  streams  making  a  short  haul, 
was  eut  at  tirst.      Pil.s  of  skidded  lops  were  left  in  tlu' 
woods  amidst  tlie  resiiions  tops  and  limits.      Fire  would 
iret  into  the  wa-te  jiintrhs  and  cum'  direful  loss  of  life 
as    well    as  of   pr..[M.rty       IIuiHlreds  of   lumber  towns 
have  Im-cii  wiped  out  and  thousands  of  lives  saerifieed 
<.n  the  pyres  of  carelesMuss.      Even  to  this  day  death- 
hreediiifr  forest  tin-  oeciir  in  Miehipan,  Wiseonsin  and 
Minnesota.     Just  as  sodii  as  the  pine  was  eut  off,  the 
liunbormen  would  let  rhr  <carfod  lands  '•  po  back  "  for 
taxes,  reeopnizinp  no  other  values.     Some  of  these  lands 
are  now  most  fertile  farms.     On  others  iron  ore  was 
found,     \\lien  the  laml   was  oripinally  purchased  the 
huyer  had  nothinp  in  view  hut  the  timlnT.     If  iron  ore 
was  known  to  exist  in  a  certain  repioti,  some  wiser  land 
owners  would  hold  on  to  their  possessions  and  pav  the 
low  taxes.     Others  would  not.     Almost  never  did  they 
'lo  anythinp  to  develop  the  lands.     Prospectors  would 
come  alonp  and  ask  for  an  option  to  explore  on  a  lease 
and  royalty  basis.      They  would  develop  a  mine  and  the 
land  owjier  would  have  a  fortune  he  had  not  turned  his 
hand  over  to  earn.      Iji  many  eases  b.'fore  or  after  the 
timlK-r  was  eut  the  own<i<  of  land  when  makinp  trans- 
fers would  "reserve"  the  mineral  riphts  on  a  pamble. 
Ihese  reservations  have  never  been  taxed  and  are  still 
permitted    to   \w   made   aecordinp   to  law.      Xot    infre- 
•  luently  the  oripinal  owners  would  have  died  and  their 
heir>  would  be  surprised  to  have  a  re<|uest  eome  to  them 
for  an  option  to  t'xplore  on  lands  now  owned  by  others 
and  r..  which  they  had  no  idea  tin  y  Ii.mI  anv  claim.      The 


24« 


THE  lltON  IirNTKR 


Inp  pods  just  (Itiir  into  tlif  oartli  for  tlH'in  and  filled  their 
[Mwkets  with  dollars.  A  {rn'iit  niiiny  ri<'h  iron  mines 
in  MiehipHn  and  Minnesota  an' on  land*  oneP  jmrehased 
from  the  (lovcrnineiit  fnr  |)inc  finiher.  I'crliaps  the 
Wcllin^'ton  Htirt  fortnne.  of  Sajriiiaw,  is  a  tvpiral  in- 
stanee  of  how  the  econotnie  svmpleL'i<h's  opened  to 
jM'ople  who  were  hiind  so  far  as  iron  ore  was  eoneerned. 
There  are  dozens  nf  other  eases  just  like  the  liurt  one, 
and  some  of  tlietn  have  an  annual  ineome  amountinp  to 
upwards  of  a  million  dollars  from  accidental  royalties, 
(lovernment  land  prants,  honest  and  dishonest, 
earned  and  unearned,  eonveved  hillicms  of  dollars  worth 
of  inm  ore  from  the  puhlie  to  private  owners.  Xotahio 
cxajiiples  are  the  Lake  Superior  Ship  ('anal  Unilway 
and  Iron  Conipanv.  tlie  (Ireat  Northern  (Irant,  and 
there  were  many  more.  I'erhaps  the  accumulation  of 
the  pyramidal  !-onpAear  fortune  is  as  h-pitimate  a  case 
as  any.  John  M.  I.nupycar  was  a  hripht.  rather  jihysi- 
eally  weak  younp  nuin  of  alert  vision  and  fitie  charaieter. 
He  was  sent  to  Maripiette.  on  Lake  Snjierior,  as  the 
apent  of  tlie  Lake  Superior  Ship  Canal  Railway  and 
Iron  Company,  This  company  in  selectinp  the  lands 
allotted  in  its  prant  enpaped  the  services  of  the  three 
Hrotherton  "  lM»ys  "  of  Kscanaha.  They  were  the  very 
h<'st  land  l<H)kers  and  iron  Iniiiters  in  all  the  Lake  Su- 
perior repion.  Fpon  their  reports  all  the  Canal  (^m- 
pany's  lands  were  chosen.  These  had  to  he  alternate 
sections.  Mr.  Lonpyear  had  all  the  infornuifion  su|>- 
plied  hv  the  data  pathered  hv  the  Brothertons.  He  se- 
cured financial  hackers  and  lioupht  the  lands  lying  he- 
tween  the  Canal  Company*-*  property.  It  just  so  hap- 
pened that  n\ost  of  tli(>  mines  found  turned  out  to  he 
on  the  Lonpyear  lands.  The  fortune  that  was  won  in 
this  way  runs  into  the  multiplied  millions. 


ACCIDENTAL  FORTUNES 


24^ 


The  story  of  tht-  hij?  Cliapin  niino  on  the  Menominee 
llmf^v  pnstiits  facef-s  of  t'X<|ui.-.itr  humor  and  at  the 
same   tiiiii"   illiKstruted   how   little   sipiificance   was   at- 
tachnl  by  owners  to  <arly  land  holdings.     Tlie  Chapins 
lived  at   Niles,   Michigan.     They  entered  the  Chapin 
Mine  forty  at  a  dollar  and  a  (juartur  an  acre,  e«]ualiDg 
tifty  dollars.     A  wedding  occurred  in  the  family.     To 
the  officiating  preacher  was  given  a  deed  for  the  forty 
acres  in  (picstion.     The  guileless  dominie  did  nut  even 
record  the  deed  and  paid  no  attention  to  it  whatever. 
A  few  years  later  the  big  mine  was  found.     It  has  pro- 
duced ore  worth  more  than  twenty  million  dollars  and 
still   has  rich   reserves.     A   wide-awake  young  lawyer 
heard  of  the  preacher  and  investigated  the  story.     He 
had  a  hard  time  finding  the  minister,  but  finally* trailed 
him   to  the   Pacific  Coast   in  an   obscure   little  town. 
Suit  against  the  Chapins  was  begun.     After  hanging 
fire  in  the  courts  for  a  more  or  less  tedious  time,  a 
compromise  was  made  with  the  preacher  for  a  cash  con- 
sideration of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars.     This  was 
divided  evenly  with  the  lawyer  and  the  Chapin  mine 
lawsuit  was  heard  of  no  more. 

Just  a  little  time  ago  a  title  to  a  valuable  mine  was 
traced  to  a  Russian  servant  maid  who  had  returned  to 
Warsaw.  The  able  young  lawyer  who  ferreted  it  out 
was  sent  to  Europe  by  a  big  mining  company.  He 
found  the  girl,  with  the  assistance  of  a  kindly' priest, 
paid  her  well,  got  her  relinquishment  and  came  home. 
The  company  gave  the  lawyer  a  check  for  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars,  paid  all  of  his  expenses  and  gave  him 
a  high  place  in  their  law  department.  This  recital  re- 
fers to  Raymond  Empson,  attorney,  of  Gladstone.  Michi- 
jran,  and  to  the  ClevelaiKiriiffs  Iron  C.mpnnv,  of  which 
William  G.  Mather,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  is*  president. 


-'48 


TIIK  IKOX  nUXTER 


In  nil  of  the  (Jcalinps  therr  wan  only  one  desirf*  upper- 
niost  in  tlu'  mind  of  Mr.  Mutlicr  and  *iis  managing 
vi('(-|>nsi(lrnf,  M.  M.  DiincHn,  and  that  was  to  give  the 
|M)or  jrirl  lur  just  ronsidcration  and  to  treat  thv  young 
lawyer  fairly.  This  is  eoniing  to  l)e  the  policy  of 
modern  husiness  and  it  will  go  a  long  way  to  retard 
bolshevisiii.  I  eould  go  on  almost  endlessly  writing  of 
the  roninnees  of  iron  ore.  Stewart  Kdward  Wiiite 
eharriiiiigly  tells  the  story  of  white  pine  in  his  popular 
"  Hhi/ed  Triiil."  There  are  a  thousand  blazed  traila 
in  the  adveutures  of  the  iron  ore  hunters. 


CHAPTEK  XXIX 

ME8ABA  RANOR  IN   MINNKHOTA,  TIIK  (IREATEBT  IROK  OWM 
l»I8TRICT  TIIK  W<»KI,I.  IIAH  KVKK  KNOWN 

T  TF^HV    ottHv    in    its   drvf«l..pnu'ut    I    visited    the 

^y     Mrxabu  riuip'  niaiiv  timow. 

At  the  «'oiiirii(iic«iin'iit  of  rvcrv  epoch  of  pf'at 
importariei",  or  rafhor  whil.-  flit-  parts  an-  b«Mnjf  mar- 
shalhHl  for  the  iiiakinp  of  history,  many  of  the  more 
minuto  thinj?M  an*  Inst  sijrht  of.  ami  thus  the  «Ta  start* 
hluntod  and  its  history  is  iii<'(»mph't<'.  So  it  is  with  the 
discovrry  of  iron  on-  in  Miniusotji.  and  inorp  particu- 
larly that  portion  known  as  tin-  Mcsaha  ran^,  the  moet 
productive  iron  on»  rc^ri,,,,  ,.v,.r  known  in  the  world. 

The  original  discoverers  of  iron  ore  in  Minnesota  are 
unknown.  The  Sioux  Indians  knew  al«ut  the  ore  ma- 
terial and  associated  rot-ks  hut  did  not  know  what  they 
were  or  how  to  use  the  raw  material.  In  this  they  were 
more  backward  than  African  alH)rij;ines.  In  the  vrrii- 
ten  relations  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  who  were  the  first 
missionaries  to  these  n-d  men,  allusion  is  tnade  as  early 
as  IfitJO  to  the  existence  of  economic  minerals  in  the 
Lake  Superior  country.  Writings  by  La(iard  in  1636, 
by  Pierre  Boucher  in  1«U0,  Fathers  Kaymbault  and 
Jopues  in  ItMl  and  Claude  Allouez  in  1  ••»<!«;,  tell  of  the 
finding  of  considerable  (piantities  of  iron  ore  in  the 
several  localities  that  are  now  d<'fined  as  the  mineral 
ranges  of  the  Lake  Superior  basin.  In  IfWJH  Father 
Jacques  Marquette  traversed  the  northern  wildemei* 

240 


MICROCOPY    RESOLUTION    TEST    CHART 

ANSI  nn  I  ISO  TEST  CHART  No    2 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


|-  illlM 


1.4 


[2.5 
2.2 

2.0 


1.8 


1.6 


^^         '^ti    L:s^    Wci"    S*'fP' 

^^S        ■^C': ''ester.   New    -Dru        '^-^.''.i 


2r)0 


TIIK  TROX  nrXTEK 


and  paid  particular  attention  to  its  economic  geology. 
To  the  iinrrniittinir  interest  of  this  venerahlc  priest,  tlie 
Lake  Superior  couiitrv  owes  the  debt  dne  for  its  primal 
and  practical  discoverv. 

The  first  references  to  the   .\Icsiil);i  district  found  in 
literature  concern  the  purts  nf  tlic  district  iinmediatel.v 
adjacent  to  the  canoe  routes  olFcred  hv  the  rivers  Mis- 
sissippi,  Prairie.   Swan,   St.    Louis.   Pike  atid  smaller 
streams.     The   first   official    description    was   given   by 
^Fajor  Z.  M.  Pike  in  ISIO,  and  the  veteran  explorer, 
Henry  K.  Schoolcraft  was  there  in  l^.'JJ.      In   ISJl  J. 
X.  Nicollet  published  a  map  of  the  hydrographic  basin 
of  the  upper  ^lississippi.  on  which  the  Mesaba  range, 
called  "  Missabay  Heights,''  was  for  the  first  time  de- 
lineated, by  bacliures,  although  very  imperfectly.     In 
18G«}  Colonel  Charles  Whittlesey  reported  on  explora- 
tions  made    in   northern    ^Minnesota   during  the   vears 
1848,  184!)  and  1804,  mentioning  Pokegama  Falls,  near 
Grand    Rapids.     Mesaba,    which    is   spelled    in   half  a 
dozen  different  ways,  to  suit  the  fancy  of  the  speller,  is 
the  Chippewa  word  for  giant,  and  the  name  was  given 
the  granite  range  of  hills  to  the  north  of  Hibbiug.     The 
early  explorers  used  the  word  ifesaba  to  cover  the  ter- 
ritory now  embraced  in  the  regions  known  as  the  Mesaba 
and  Vermillion  ranges,     hi  lS(;s^  Henry  H.  Fames,  the 
first  state  geologist  of  Minnesota,  reported  the  finding 
of  iron  ore  at  Fmbarrass  Lake  near  Biwabik.      In  a  sec- 
ond report,  published  in  the  same  year,  :Nrr.  Fames  was 
more  explicit,  and  referring  to  the  general  elevated  area 
of  the  northern  part  of  the  State  including  the  Mesaba 
Range,  said : 

"  In  this  region  are  found  also  immense  bodies  of  the 
ores  of  iron.  lM)th  magnetic  and  hematite."  From  this 
time  on   desultory   exf)loratory   work    was   done   aloji:: 


MESABA  RAX(;E  IX  MINNESOTA     251 


nearly  the  entire  length  of  the  ranpe  from  Ranjjes  12  to 
LaPrairie  Hivcr,  Tlicre  is  considerahle  douht  as  to 
vvlio  was  the  first  actual  explorer  to  penetrate  the  wilds 
of  the  Mesaha  Itaiifre,  hut  from  all  that  eaii  Ik-  irathered 
it  would  scf'iii  that  the  honor  helonps  to  Peter  Mitehell. 
The  first  examination  of  this  ran^e  hv  a  minitif;  expert 
with  particular  reference  to  the  (H-currence  of  iron  ore 
in  merchantahle  deposits  was  nnide  in  1S7.">  hv  Pro- 
fessor A.  II.  Chester,  of  Hamilton  Collcgo,  Xew  York. 
In  this  report,  puhlished  in  l^'^  K  may  1k'  found  this  ref- 
erence to  an  earlier  occupation  of  the  land: 

"  In  the  northwest  qiinrt.-^r  of  f.e<'tion  20.  in  township  fiO, 
north  of  ranpre  12.  west,  the  most  important  of  the  work- 
ingn  of  Mr.  Peter  Mitchell,  tlie  first  explorer  of  the  ranffe, 
was  found.  This  was  a  pit  six  fe<^t  in  depth,  and  from  it 
was  said  to  have  been  obtained  the  best  ore  he  brought  ba<-k. 
This  old  pit  was  clcanp<l  and  sunk  to  a  depth  of  eleven  and 
two-tenths  feet." 


1^ 


r 


r  ff 


Professor  Chester  is  crenerally  jriven  the  credit  of  hav- 
ing heen  the  Hrst  explorer  on  the  rancre,  hut  we  have  his 
own  words  that  Mr.  :Mitchell  was  ahea<l  of  him,  po.s.si- 
hly  two  or  three  years.  Between  the  time  f.f  Professor 
Chester's  examination  of  the  ranjre  and  the  puhlication 
of  his  report  nine  years  later,  Professor  M.  11.  Win- 
chell,  state  creolojrist,  noted  the  ransre  in  two  of  his  re- 
ports, mentioning  the  existence  of  iron  ore  on  the  east 
end.  Pp  to  that  time,  while  it  was  readily  conceded 
that  iron  ore  existed  there,  it  was  not  ceneraily  l)elieved 
that  the  ore  was  of  a  merchantahle  prade  or  in  sufficient 
quantity  to  warrant  development.  In  fact,  well  up  to 
18!>0  the  rancre  had  l)een  looked  <n-er  hy  ntimerous  min- 
ing experts  sent  in  there  hy  the  larger  interests,  and 
the   reports   were  not  favorable.     The  portion  of  the 


252 


THE  IROX  HUNTER 


TRnpe  examined  particularly  bv  them  was  the  pxtreme 
eastern  end,  where  exposures  of  mapnetie  iron  are  nu- 
merous, but  even  up  to  the  present  time  no  Ixidy  of  ore 
of  workable  dinnMisions  has  iM'en  loi-ated  at  that  |W)int. 
The  faet  that  the  raiijie  had  been  turned  down  bv  the 
several  niininjr  experts  did  not  deter  the  hardy  pioneer 
explorers,  to  whose  faith  and  purpose  are  due  the  de- 
velopnieiif  of  the  Mesaba.  They  believed  that  rich  iron 
ore  in  payinj;  (piantities  was  to  Im*  found  in  the  district 
and  they  continued  workinpr  dilipently,  breastitig  the 
untold  hardships  that  meet  the  pioneer  in  a  wild  coun- 
try. The  more  persistent  of  the  early  explorers  were 
the  Merritts —  Lon  Merritt,  Alfred  Merritt,  L.  J.  ^Fer- 
ritt,  r.  C.  Merritt,  T.  X.  Merritt.  A.  R.  :Meiritt,  J.  E. 
Merritt,  and  W.  .F,  Merritt  —  of  Duluth,  and  their  faith 
in  the  ranpe  was  the  first  to  1m>  rewarded.  On  Xovein- 
ber  10,  iS'tO,  a  crew  working;  for  them,  under  charjre  of 
Captain  .1,  A.  Xichols,  struck  iron  ore  in  a  homestead 
claim  embracing:  the  northwest  (piarter  of  section  ;{,  5S- 
is,  just  north  of  what  is  now  known  as  the  Mountain 
Iron  mine.  The  ^ferritts  were  not  discourajred  by  the 
adverse  reports  made  by  the  experts  and  the  numerous 
failures  of  other  explorers.  The  ^lesaba  was  an  at- 
tractive and  promising  field,  and  their  faith  in  it  was 
never  shaken,  even  though  their  money  was  spent  and 
two  years  of  the  hardest  kind  of  labor  remained  unre- 
warded. All  who  applaud  the  pioneer  are  glad  to  know 
that  these  pioneers  who  were  so  unresting  in  their  search 
for  iron  ore  have  been  richly  repaid  and  that  those  who 
renuiin  of  the  family  are  enjoying  lives  of  ease  due  to 
the  early  toil  that  tried  their  fiber. 

The  next  discovery  of  importance  on  the  range  was 
the  Hiwabik  property,  by  John  ^NfcCa'^lvill.  an  explorer, 
who  found  iron  ore  clinging  to  the  roots  of  an  upturned 


MKSAIU  RANGE  IX  MINNESOTA     253 


troo.  The  ^Mcrritts  explored  the  traet.  It  is  interest- 
inir  t(»  note  tliat  the  first  two  iron  mines  diseovered  have 
I)roven  the  hir^'est  shippers  from  the  ranfrc  The  output 
of  the  Hi\val»ik  mine  up  to  the  close  of  navijration  in 
ll»17  was  },<>.".;{, 7:n  tons,  whih'  th«'  Mountain  Iron  mine 
had  made  in  the  same  period  the  stupendous  produetion 
of  7.2'»4,201  tons.  With  the  diseoverv  of  these  mines 
It  may  Ix'  said  that  the  ranpe  was  fairly  nn'Ofniizcd  as  a 
mininfr  district  of  commercial  importance,  and  there 
followed  a  rush  of  explorers  to  the  scone  of  action. 
Finds  of  larj^e  lK)dies  of  ore  followed,  and  mining  towns 
sj>runjr  up  all  ahmj;  to  fr'wo  attention  to  the  needs  of  the 
thron<rs  of  people  that  flocked  in. 

It    is    jrenerally    l)elieved    that    Frank    llibbinp,    of 
Dnluth,  was  the  tirst  explorer  to  shoulder  his  packsack 
and  piish  his  way  throuirh  the  trackless  wilderness  to 
the  {Miint  where  now  stands  the  modern  citv  of  Ilib- 
hin^r  — called  the  "Gem  of  the   Mesaha,"  but  E.  J. 
Lonjryear  preceded  Ilibbin^r  to  the  territory  by  at  least 
a  year.     Mr.  Lonjrycar  cut  a  road  into  what  is  now  the 
nibbing  district  and  it  was  he  who  broke  the  seal  that 
bound  the  hidden  wealth  that  has  been  brought  to  light 
since  that  time.     Frank  Hihbing  was  really  more  of  a 
prospector  than    Long\'ear.     He  located  a  number  of 
promising  prospects   and   ac<]uired    interests   in    lands 
along  the   range.     Mr.   Hihbing   was   a  man   without 
means,  but  so  encouraging  were  his  reports  that  he  soon 
interested  A.  J.  Trimble,  then  fresh  from  many  suc- 
cessful ventures  on   the  Gogebic  range,   in   Michigan, 
with  him,  and  the  Lake  Superior  Iron  Company  was 
fonned.     John  :M.  Long>-ear,  of  ilanjuette,  and  K.  M. 
Bennett,    of    Minneajjolis,    secured   options   to   explore 
ilesiihu  Rang<'  lands  and  sent  E.  J.  I.ongyear  with  an 


:|i 


I  i 


i 


'xplorat 


ion  outfit  to  give  the  lands  a  test.     Mr.  Long- 


II: 


2:.4 


TIIK  IKON   IirXTKU 


vcur  was  then  fresh  from  tlio  Michijran  (^ollopo  of  Mines, 
iiiid  was  one  of  the  first  chiss  that  frraduated  from  that 
splendid  institution.  In  the  stinuner  of  IS!>1  Mr.  Long- 
year  arrived  at  Swan  Kiver,  on  the  line  of  the  old  Du- 
luth  and  Winnipej;  Railroad,  now  the  Great  Northern, 
which  was  the  nearest  railroad  point  to  the  land  he  in- 
tended to  explore.  lie  followed  the  old  Wright  and 
Davis  tote  road  to  a  point  al>out  a  mile  and  one  (juarter 
west  of  what  is  now  Xashwank,  and  from  there  began 
cutting  a  road  through  to  what  is  now  Ilibbing.  Having 
made  a  passable  road,  ^[r.  Longyear  established  an  ex- 
ploring camp  one-half  a  mile  north  of  the  present  Ma- 
honing mine,  and  the  old  camps  are  still  there,  a  mute 
reminder  of  the  earliest  work  on  that  end  of  the  range. 
Mr.  Longyear  prosi-cuted  exploratory  work  with  a  dia- 
motid  drill  without  finding  ore  in  paying  (piantities  until 
February,  18i>2,  when  he  found  a  large  body  of  ore  in  the 
northeast  quarter  of  section  22,  5S-20.  The  body  of 
ore,  said  to  measure  eight  million  tons,  remains  imde- 
veloped.  A  few  years  ago  it  became  the  property  of  the 
old  Lake  Superior  Consolidated  Iron  Mines  Company 
and  was  taken  into  the  holdings  of  the  United  States 
Steel  Corporation  upon  its  organization.  Mr.  Long- 
year's  next  find  was  the  Pillsbury  mine.  This  was  the 
first  iron  mine  opened  in  the  Ilibbing  district,  though  it 
did  not  make  a  shipment  until  1808.  The  first  mine  to 
ship  ore  from  the  district  was  the  Sellers,  in  the  spring 
of  1SJ>+.  The  next  mine  to  be  opened  in  the  district 
was  the  Burt,  followed  closely  by  the  TTnll,  Rust,  Sellers 
and  Day  mines,  in  which  Hibbing  and  Trimble  were  in- 
terested, and  then  the  great  ^lahoning. 

The  finding  of  the  great  Mesaba  beds  of  iron  ore 
opened  the  eyes  of  the  eastern  furnace  men.  and  they 
met  and  formed  an  organization  to  locate  iron  proper- 


MESABA  RAXGE  IN  ^flXXESOTA 


2  ".5 


ties  on  this  range.     W.  C.  Agnow  was  chosen  as  the 
most  suitable  man  to  conduct  the  work.     :Nrr.  Apiew 
accepted  the  proposition  and  arrived  witli  a  working 
crew  in  the  summer  of  1893.     He  started  exploratory 
work  on  lands  where  the  ^[ahoning  mine  was  found,  one 
mile  west  of  Ilihhing.     Afr.  Agnew  discovered  this  mine 
and   superintended    its   development.     The    ifahoning 
presents  the  largest  single  body  of  iron  ore  e\er  discov- 
ered in  the  world.      Imagine  an  elliptical  openinir  i,,  the 
earth  half  a  mile  long,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide  and 
nearly  two  hundred  feet  deep,  and  you  will  have  some 
idea  of  what  the  great  Mahoning  open  pit  presents  to- 
day—  more  than  forty  acres  of  solid  iron  ore  exposed  to 
view.     There  yet  remains  eighty  acres  of  ore  uncovered. 
The  first  shipment  from  the  Mahoning  was  made  in 
lSl»r),  and  up  to  the  close  of  navigation,  lit  17,  the  total 
output   was   4.791, fi.'il.     The  possible  year's  shipment 
out  of  this  mine  is  to  be  limited  only  by  the  capacity 
of  the  railroads  for  carrying  away  the  product. 

After  the  first  excitement  of  mine  discovering  sub- 
sided somewhat,  a  financial  depression  occurred  and  ex- 
ploratory work  nearly  ceased  until  better  times  re- 
curred. But  at  no  time  was  the  range  and  its  immense 
possibilities  lost  sight  of  by  the  financial  interests  of 
the  country.  In  1900  there  was  a  revival  of  exploratory 
work,  and  from  that  time  on  there  has  been  a  steadv 
increase  in  ore  development  and  the  end  is  not  in  sight. 
After  the  organization  of  the  United  States  Steel  Cor- 
poration, there  was  a  rush  of  independent  mining  men 
to  the  Mesaba  to  secure  holdings  before  evervthin-,'  fell 
under  the  control  of  the  big  organization.  The  result  is 
that  while  the  Minnesota  Iron  Company,  a  subsidiary 
branch  of  the  Steel  Trust,  owns  heavily  of  the  iron  prop- 
erties, the  tonnage  of  independont  concerns  holding  in- 


; 


■■  ': 


i  ; 


2r>t\ 


IIIK  IKOX   IirXTKH 


torosts  in  that  district  is  probably  proater  than  that  of 
the  tnist.  Tho  independent  mines  include  among  others 
the  Stevenson  and  Jordan,  owned  and  operated  by  Cor- 
rigan,  McKinney  li-  Company;  the  Lanra  and  the  Wini- 
fred, by  the  Winifred  Iron  Mining  Company;  the 
Albany,  I'tica  and  Elizabeth,  by  the  Crete  Mining 
Company;  the  Longyear,  Columbia,  Leetonia,  Pearce, 
Morrow  and  Croxton,  by  the  Sell  wood- Drake- Bartow  in- 
terests; and  the  Agnew,  Shenango,  Kinney,  Sharon, 
(irant,  Leonard  and  Susquehanna  mines,  all  in  opera- 
tion. So  it  will  Ik"  seen  that  the  Steel  Trust  has  very 
healthy  comjK'tition. 

Up  to  the  close  of  navigation  1018,  to  which  period 
production  is  usually  tabulated,  liocause  almost  all  of 
the  ore  is  shij)j)ed  by  way  of  Lake  Superior,  the  Mesaba 
Jtange  had  sent  forward  a  total  of  lX(i,:ns»,^s20  tons. 

The  production  of  all  the  Lake  Superior  districts  in 
1918  was  (;:5,ir.4,:541  tons,  of  which  4;},3:)!>,107  tons 
came  from  the  ^lesaba  and  other  Minnesota  ranges. 

It  is  estimated  that  by  the  end  of  the  season  of  1020 
the  first  billion  tons  of  iron  ore  will  have  been  produced 
by  the  Lake  Superior  district. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

CONSIDERATIOX  OP  CHARLES  EVANS  HUOHE8,  WOODBOW 
WILSON  ANI>  OTHKKS  IN  8KARCHINO  FOR  A  SIC- 
CKSaOR  TO  JAMES  B.  ANOELL  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY 
OK  MICHIGAN 


PUBLIC  work  came  unexpectedly  for  me  to  do, 
just  as  it  will  coino  to  all  who  will  try  to  fit 
themselves  and  l)e  willing.  In  11)08  I  was 
tcmdered  by  Governor  Warner  an  appointment  upon  the 
Board  of  Kegents  of  the  University  of  Michijian,  to  suc- 
ceed the  late  Peter  White,  of  ManpU'tte.  Keally  to  de- 
serve to  be  a  regent  of  the  university  and  to  do  the  work 
measurably  well  is,  to  my  way  of  thinking,  the  greatest 
honor  to  be  had  in  ^lichigan. 

Any  old  dub  may  be  a  governor  or  a  United  States 
senator,  and  several  have  been,  but  generally  the  regents 
have  been  high  grade,  well-equipj)ed  men.  Almost  al- 
ways they  have  lx;en  chosen  from  the  alumni  of  the 
university. 

Consequently  I  assumed  my  new  duties  with  proper 
humility  and  not  without  misgivings.  Where  I  lived 
as  a  boy  in  Indiana,  such  is  the  prestige  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  ^lichigan,  that  a  house  where  dwelt  a  man 
who  had  graduated  at  Ann  Arl)or  was  pointed  out  to  all 
as  a  famous  landmark.  With  such  a  man  for  president 
as  the  late  James  Burrill  Angcll,  there  was  not  much 
for  a  board  to  do  but  back  liini  up.     But  he  was  grow- 

257 


1  ;■ 


i.i 


f  i 

I    1 


2'>H 


niK   IKON   lirXTKK 


inj;  old  and  wished  to  retire  and  was  entitled  to  consid- 
eration. 

To  find  a  sneeessor  to  this  wonderful  man  was  to  be  a 
task  that  devolved  ujxni  the  regents.  Dr.  Anpell  was 
the  most  eonstruetiveiy  ajrp'essive  man  in  his  inimitahle 
wav-  that  I  have.ever  known,  and  \et  to  all  he  was  om- 
of  the  sweetest  and  most  jwaceful  of  human  iM-iiitrs. 
He  had  a  way  of  havinj;  others  d(»  the  fijrhting.  A  wiz- 
ard oouhl  not  have  measured  men  In'tter.  This  one  was 
seleeted  for  the  very  thinjr  he  enuld  do  ix'st  and  that  one 
for  the  same  reason.  When  he  had  made  his  assiirTi- 
ments,  he  would  look  on  with  the  face  of  a  ealm  pod  and 
rarely  did  his  man  fail  him.  Best  of  all.  the  person 
seleeted  for  an  espeeial  work  seldom  realized  it;  almost 
always  he  would  think  that  he  had  originated  the  matter 
in  hand.  Dr.  Anpell  never  took  off  for  a  moment  his 
armor  of  l)enipnity,  but  Ix'hind  it  always  there  was  the 
force  of  a  big  man.  It  was  beeause  of  his  remarkable 
method  of  using  men  and  delegating  work,  that  be  was 
able  to  remain  efficient  to  an  age  much  greater  than  most 
men  are  permitted  to  retain  their  faculties,  or  even  life 
itself. 

During  the  winter  after  he  was  eighty-seven  years  old 
lie  had  a  severe  sickness,  largely  caused  by  his  insistence 
upon  acknowledpinp  in  lonp  hand  hundreds  of  loving 
letters  received  xiynm  bis  birthday.  His  relatives  were 
siiiiimoned  and  all  concerned  expected  the  long  call. 
On  the  nights  of  February  2!)  and  March  1  it  was 
thought  that  he  would  not  see  the  morning. 

I  was  in  the  office  of  University  Secretary  Shirley 
Smith  at  about  half  past  ten  o'clock  the  forenoon  of 
March  2.  A  telephone  call  came  from  Dr.  Angell's 
brother.  Secretary  Smith's  face  was  long  and  mourn- 
ful, then  it  lighted  wp  with  both  gladness  and  humor. 


SUCCESSOR  TO  .TAMKS   \].  AXCELL     259 

Instead  of  the  dr.adod  ni'ws,  the  brothor  asked  the 
secretary  if  Dr.  Peterson,  of  th»"  medi.-al  eollejje  hospi- 
tal, would  not  loan  h  wheeled  ehuir  for  the  jise  of  Dr. 
Angell.  It  trajispired  that  just  when  they  fh<.upht  he 
was  nearest  death  he  rallied,  raised  himself  in  bed.  and 
<'ornpIained  of  Ininfr  hunjjrv.  Uv  was  given  a  break- 
fast of  eotfee,  toast,  a  eereal  and  an  epjr,  which  he  actu- 
:illy  enjoyed.  Then  he  insisted  tipon  petting  up  into  a 
'vheeled  chair.  A  few  weeks  later  he  peacefully  crossed 
•  he  threshold  of  eternity. 

He  had  nourished  his  vital  forces  all  of  his  life  upon 
kindliness  of  heart,  tranquillity  of  spirit  and  life  in  an 
atmosphere  of  youth.  Once  "he  told  me  that  to  live 
long  one  must  l)e  temperate  and  keep  his  heart  youthful 
and  alert.  No  W(jnder  he  was  so  much  of  a  factor  in 
causing  the  I'nivorsity  of  .Michigan  to  become  one  of  tlie 
greatest  of  the  higher  educational  institutions  of  the 
world.  He  was  loved  by  everybody  and  most  so  bv  the 
students. 

It  was  this  great  man  that  a  worthy  successor  had  to 
be  secured  for.  There  were  many  applicants.  Of 
course,  not  one  of  them  applied  directly,  like  a  hungry 
man  -n  search  of  a  job.  Some  of  them  were  just  as 
eager,  no  doubt,  but  all  went  through  the  form  of  being 
proposed  by  their  friends.  Many  of  those  who  were 
urged  in  greatest  volume  were  the  most  unlikely  and 
unfit. 

Serious  consideration  was  given  to  the  name  of  the 
then  Governor  of  New  York,  Charles  Evans  Hughes. 
Mr.  Hughes  had  been  a  memlx-r  of  the  Cornell  faculty 
and  was  looked  upon,  not  only  as  a  big  man.  but  as  one 
who  was  also  an  educator.  The  two  (lualifications  do 
not  necessarily  dove-tail. 

The  place  of  president  of  the  Fnivcr^ity  of  Mi-higan 


'. 


200 


TIIK  IltON  IirXTKU 


was  tcntativrly  offorrd  to  him  hv  a  committoo  of  roppiit-* 
ap|Miiiit<'(l  for  tln'  piirjHiso.  (lovrrnor  Iluphcrt  com- 
pos* d  the  usual  praciofis,  and  often  mcaninplcsa,  phrasi's 
<tf  r«'jn*<'t,  and  pave  as  liis  reason  that  ho  had  a  life's 
work  of  reform  in  the  politieal  arena  of  Xew  York 
State.  Otherwise  lie  would  have  In-en  made  happy  by 
takinjr  up  the  direction  of  the  parent  of  all  p)pular  uni- 
versities. 

Within  a  few  weeks  he  permitted  himself  to  be  sidc?- 
traeked,  even  shelved,  so  far  as  {Mtlitieal  reform  activi- 
ties were  coiK'erned,  hy  an  appointment  to  the  I'nited 
States  Suprenn'  Cotirt.  In  the  lijrht  of  what  he  had 
uttered  in  such  a  Parsifalliaij  spirit,  I  was  sho<'k<'d,  and 
in  my  eyes  Mr.  Ilujjhes  has  worn  a  broken  halo  ever 
since. 

Some  one  proj)08ed  the  name  of  David  .layne  Hill, 
T^nited  States  Ambassador  to  (lermany.  He  locked  like 
ideal  timlM-r.  I  went  to  Berlin  to  look  him  over.  It  is 
pro[M'r,  I  think,  to  state  that  I  paid  my  own  expenses. 
Accuracy,  at  the  expense  of  «'Iejrance,  recjuires  me  to 
rwnrd  that  I  n'ported  to  the  lH)ard  of  repents  that  Mr. 
Hill  had  taken  on  too  much  weight  of  all  kinds. 

One  of  the  most  interestiiig  candidates,  for  we  were 
caused  to  think,  at  least  I  was,  that  he  solicited  the  posi- 
tion, was  WcMidrow  Wilson.  At  the  very  tirst  most  of 
the  repents  jumped  at  the  shininp  lure  of  surface  bril- 
liance. I  do  not  mean  to  state  that  Mr.  Wilson  is  not 
a  profound  scholar;  only  that  more  than  ir.ost  men  of 
erudition  he  possesses  an  exterior  luminescence  that  is 
distinctive.  More  sober  consideration  threw  another 
light  ujxm  the  retiring  president  of  Princeton.  There 
was  a  c^tnsensiis  of  opinion  that  he  had  done  good  work 
at  Princeton,  but  that  whether  he  had  done  more  good 


SUCCESSOR  TO  JAMES  B.  AXGEIJ.     i^n 

than  harm  was  a  question  that  could  not  be  so  rasilv 
answcntj.  • 

IIo  had  ffono  to  Princeton  with  thr  unanimous  sup.H.pt 
<>f  th..  mana^^rs  of  that  rollop,  and  |,.f,  it  with  sramlv 
H  fn.nd  amon^.  th.m.  Pnu-tirallv.  if  H..ms.  ho  wa. 
<«'sM„ss,.d.  II„  ^rafuifous  ,,„arrH  with  (Jrover  CU'vo- 
land  was  analy/,.,!,  and  a  division  was  oumc  to  that  Dr 
»»  il.xoti  was  tactless. 

The  rnivvTsify  of  Mirhip.n  drfK-nds  for  its  Hnanoial 

If.'  n,K.n  the  p.,plc.  an.l  the  F^aMshUur..  of  a  Hepuhlioan 

■•^taf...      It  has  always  had  tho  res,Hrt.  aff.rtion  and  gen- 

rrous  oons.d.Tafio,.  of  its  Staf.-.     How  lon^  would  it 

ako  a  southern  Dem-H-rat  of  Mr.  Wilson's  peculiar  tviK, 

to  destr,.y  th.-  d.-hVate  relations  that  suhsis,   lK.t«;>in 

them  hat  was  the  danK«'r  that  lurked  in  him.     G.hxI 

rr.ou^.h   the  p<.nplo  have  said,  to  Ik>  a  two-term  President 

••f  the  I  n.t«^  States,  but  the  rep.„ts  did  not  decide  that 

he  was  p,od  enou^rh  t..  Ik-  presi.lent  of  the  University  of 

Jklichi^an. 

It  was  a  happy  .solution  of  the  problem  to  select  Dr. 
Harry  I  Ilutehins,  dean  of  the  University  of  Michigan 
Law  College,  to  W  president.  I  op,K.sed  his  appoint- 
ment for  an  unlimited  term.  In  fact,  I  was  not  very 
enthus.ast.e  about  Dr.  Hutchins,  and  I  proposed  that 
he  place  be  given  him  for  three  years.  i„  order  that  the 
f)oard  might  have  time  to  look  around  without  the  dis- 
agreeable and  hurtful  consequences  of  not  having  a 
president.  '^ 

Some  of  the  regents,  who  knew  him  better  than  I  did 
proposed  that  I  be  ap,K.inted  a  committee  of  one  to  in- 
terview  Dr.    Hutchins  ard   come   to  tern.s   with   him. 
n.!s  they  did,  with  the  suspi.-ious  twinkle  in  their  eves 
of    a    ruminating    rhin.x;eros.     Thev    expected    fire- 


J  I- 


I 
4 


'|i 


"it.    I 


262 


'IIIK  IKOX  lirXTER 


works.  If  th«'v  could  have  hcou  within  hearing  of  the 
session  betwccii  Dr.  FI\it('hiiis  and  rnyselt  thev  would 
liave  coiisidcri'd  tlienisclves  enjo.vahly  justified.  I 
found  the  Dean  a  niueii  bi^rper  and  stronger  man  than 
r  had  suppos<-d  him  to  he.  In  faet,  he  rapidly  devel- 
oped presidential  size,  in  my  estimation,  as  we  sat  vis-a- 
vis and  fought  hack  and  forth.  We  shouted  at  each 
.)ther  and  pounded  the  desk  that  was  between  us.  Fi- 
nally I  said  to  him: 

"For  goodness'  sake,  don't  act  like  yon  are  behaving; 
you  remind  mo  too  irnicli  of  myself  I 

This,  he  has  said  since,  uncovered  his  humorous 
senses,  and  we  soon  had  a  rational  discussion.  At  first 
he  felt  It  as  a  retlection  upon  him  to  be  offered  a  limited 
term.  I  told  him  just  why  we  had  insisted  upon  a 
definite  period  and  I  placed  the  good  of  the  university 
above  everything.  The  people  of  the  nation  only  gave 
their  President  a  limited  term,  and  why  shoiild  he,  in 
the  face  of  such  an  exalted  example,  object  to  being 
placed  upon  the  same  footing!;  That  was  not  what 
appealed  to  him.  It  was  the  good  of  the  university 
that  won  his  willingness  to  do  anything  that  would  con- 
tribute to  such  an  object.  I  suggested  increasing  the 
term  to  five  years,  and  we  agreed,  whereupon  the  board 
of  regents  ratified  the  decision,  and  Dr.  Harry  B. 
Ilutehins  became  president  of  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan. 

It  is  only  due  him  to  state  that  his  work  as  the  head 
of  the  university  has  more  than  justified  the  expecta- 
tions of  his  chiefest  admirers. 

While  I  was  a  regent,  a  kind  of  thing  came  up  that 
must  arise  continually  in  the  life  of  every  university. 
Professor  R.  M.  Wenley'a  philosophical  lectures  had 
taken  such  a  wide  and  free  and  bold  scope,  as  to  attract  a 


SUCCESSOR  TO  JAMES  B.  AXGELL     263 

great  deal  of  attention  which  was  not  confined  to 
university  circles,  hut  pervaded  the  State  and  farther. 
He  was  admired  as  a  man  of  profound  thought 
and  high  courage  hv  those  who  were  hig  enough  and 
sufficiently  fair  to  see  him  as  he  is  and  measure  his 
work. 

Those  who  did  not  like  his  methods,  and  some  of  the 
faculty  who  were  uniiuestionahly  jealous  of  him,  formed 
a  potential  opposition  to  him  that  took  form  in  a  deter- 
mination to  drive  him  out  of  the  university.  One  day 
Wenley  delivered  a  lecture  so  Christless  and  so  lieart- 
less  and  so  platonic  in  their  estimation  as  to  stir  his 
enemies  to  extreme  action.  They  interviewed  a  regent 
who  came  to  me  with  the  matter.  This  regent  was  one 
of  the  oldest  and  hest  men  on  the  hoard  and  an  alumnus. 
He  was  all  wrought  up  and  managed  to  communicate 
his  feelings  to  me. 

I  agreed  to  support  a  resolution  dismissing  Professor 
Wenley  from  the  faculty.  We  had  votes  enough 
pledged  to  pass  it.  But  before  it  was  voted  upon  all 
of  us  came  to  our  senses.  The  truth  seemed  to  stalk 
before  me  unguided,  as  the  truth  needs  no  guide.  It 
seemed  to  say:  "What  right  have  you  to  do  this 
tiling^  Is  this  a  university  or  a  penal  institution? 
Will  you  strive  to  give  wings  to  thought  and  then  kill  it 
when  it  tries  to  fly  i  IIow  are  you  going  to  combat 
error  if  it  is  not  exposed?  Do  you  not  know  that  the 
fearless  teacher  presents  every  facet  of  the  intellect  in 
action?  Next  time  you  oppress  an  intellectual  process 
it  may  be  the  death  of  a  great  truth.  Where  are  you 
going  to  draw  the  line  inside  the  demarcation  of  com- 
plete freedom  of  thought  and  sjH-ech  (  If  the  truth  can- 
not withstand  the  competition  of  error  it  becomes  error, 
and  error  becomes  truth." 


III 
1 

I 

ft    : 


f;| 


264 


THE  IRON  HUNTER 


Then  tho  disffraceful  resolution  that  I  had  helped  to 
father  I  helped  to  kill. 

Wenley  still  shakes  things  up,  and  T  have  come  to 
have  a  \iirpo  respect  for  liis  work  without  yielding  an 
iota  of  my  Presbyterianism. 


I 


F 


CnAPTER  XXXI 

TOM  mat's  KERRY  PHILOSOPHY  A  SOCIAL  THERMOMETER 

I  no  not  know  whon  T  bo^an  to  loam  that  tho  only 
warrant  for  a  puhlic  caroor  is  a  dosiro  born  of 
a  willinjrncss  to  sorvp;  to  give  back  to  sooioty  some 
of  self  in  payment  for  tlip  jrroat  Ixnirfits  social  ordor 
grants  to  the  individual ;  or  when  I  bad  my  first  realiza- 
tion that  a  republic  cannot  endure,  and  civil  and  reli- 
gious lib(>rty  will  not  have  a  collective  instrument  of 
protection  unless  men  and  women  oflFer  themselves 
freely. 

In  my  early  forenoon  of  life  I  saw  only  the  selfish 
side  and  pur|)ose  of  both  private  and  public  activity. 
To  win  was  the  thing;  to  take;  no  thought  of  paying 
back. 

One  night  I  was  guiding  Tom  ^fay,  my  cartoonist 
friend,  through  a  Lake  Superior  jungle  to  our  hunting 
camp.  It  was  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago. 
lie  had  learned  something  that  I  had  not  even  thought 
of,  although  we  were  born  the  same  year —  ls(!0. 

"  Hold  on  there,  old  man,"  he  called  from  behind. 
"  This  isn't  a  ^farathon.  is  it  ?  " 

1  replied  that  it  was  already  so  dark  T  could  see  the 
compass  needle  with  difficulty  and  t'-it  we  must  strike 
the  trail  a  mile  farther  on  if  we  were  to  have  com- 
fortable going  after  the  night  cover  all  settled  down. 

Swish  !     Tom  gave  a  yell. 

"  I  suppose  that  bnish  would  have  cut  off  my  head 

265 


In 


266 


THE  IHOX   IirXTER 


if  yon  hadn't  hold  it  back ;  as  it  was  it  only  snippod  off 
my  nose  and  one  ear  and  took  a  chnnk  ont  of  my  game 
fvo,  blast  it !  " 

"  But,  Tom,  I  have  told  yon  a  thousand  times,  which 
should  be  nearly  cnoufrh  for  an  Irishman,  to  walk  far 
enough  behind  so  that  the  switches  won't  hit  you." 

"  That's  nil  right  and  whan  I  do,  you  get  out  of  sight 
and  a  wolf  bites  me  trousers.  Gimme  the  switch  ivcry 
time." 

Tom  always  dropped  into  the  soft,  sweet,  Irish 
brogue  that  his  soul  loved  whenever  he  was  not  at  a 
city-tension. 

On  the  trail  we  took  our  time  and  visited.  Tom  said 
he  wondered  wliy  rich  men  did  not  remember  while 
going  through  life  that  there  are  no  pockets  in  shrouds. 

"  And  they  just  take  and  take  and  grab  and  scoop  and 
grub  to  get  it,  only  to  hope  to  square  things  when  they 
are  on  their  death  beds  by  giving  it  away.  They  can't 
do  it.  Tickets  to  heaven  are  not  on  sale  at  a  l)ox  office, 
and  there  are  no  special  reservations  for  millionaires. 
And  most  people  are  learning  that  God's  books  are  kept 
day  by  day  just  like  the  street  car  companies'.  Five- 
cent  fares  make  big  totals.  Little  dailv  deeds  count  np 
big  in  life's  long  run.  The  fellow  who  gives  most  is 
going  til  got  most  in  the  end,  not  the  fellow  who  takes 
the  most  from  others  without  any  thought  of  paying 
back,  or  dividing  until  the  fine  old  gent  with  the  scythe 
and  long  whiskers  gets  his  big  spectacles  focused  on 
him." 

Thus  we  strolled  to  camp  as  Tom  preached  in  big- 
hearted,  Kerry  style.  It  made  a  deep  impression  npon 
me.  At  another  time  some  years  later,  obedient  to  the 
woods'  muse,  he  said  : 

"  Xotice  our  friends  Carnaygie  and  Rockefeller  are 


TOM  MAY'S  KERRY  PHILOSOPHY     267 

having  a  goose  race  giving  away  monev.  Andy  is  a 
shade  the  more  anxious  and  has  a  wild  Scotch  glare 
under  the  brush  that  grows  over  his  eyes.  Ye  see  he 
has  a  Homestead  riot  and  dead  children  and  women 
and  frinzied  men  trampin'  on  his  soul.  Rocky  liasn't 
anj-thing  like  that.  Maybe  he  will  \w  able  to"  make  a 
long  drive  through  the  pearly  gates,  but  I'll  bet  Andy 
will  slice  or  top  the  pill." 

All  of  this  indicated  the  coming  of  a  new  era  in  pub- 
lic thought.  Then  as  a  hunger  for  heart  and  soul 
growth.  We  had  only  stomach  growth  up  to  then  or 
not  much  more,  and  we,  as  a  nation  and  as  a  people,  it 
would  seem,  were  hunchbacked  in  front. 

Demagogues  were  vying  with  honest  men  in  their 
eagerness  to  make  hay.  There  was  a  grasshopper 
plague  of  fake  reformers  in  every  State  and  some  of 
them  drew  the  eye  of  the  nation.  It  was  difficult  always 
to  pick  out  the  spurious.  In  fact,  I  doubt  if  a 
good  many  of  the  political  disciples  of  the  new  era 
could  tell  just  how  much  they  were  for  self  and  how 
much  for  what  they  advocated.  Men  were  reformers, 
insurgents  and  progressive  until  they  got  into  office,  and 
were  active  enough  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  fat 
boys.  Only  then  they  dried  up  like  a  desert  spring  or 
became  conservative. 


I 


CHAPTER  XXXII 


I    AM    ELECTED    (JOVERNf)R    OF    MICHIOAN 


TTIKKE  was  much  dissatisfaction  with  tho  state 
of  public  affairs  in  ^Ii<'liij;an.     TTifrhcr  ideals  of 
government  bepin  to  Ih'  asserted  in  many  places. 
.\  man,  perhaps  worthy  eiioujrh,  hut  wlio  was  retrarded 
as  heinp  very  ordinary,  had  been  elected  Governor  for  a 
third  term.     The  State  was  banknipt. 

At  least  one  of  the  state  institutions,  Jackson  prison, 
was  notorious  for  its  misnianaprement  and  worse.  The 
state  treasurer,  (Jlazicr.  was  discovered  short  several 
liundred  thous.-'nd  dollars  in  his  accounts.  He  had  been 
closely  identified  with  Warner,  jMTsonally  and  polit- 
ically, and  had  carried  larjre  deposits  in  the  bank  in 
which  Warner  was  a  stockholder  and  officer.  The 
warden  of  Jackson  prison,  Armstronjr,  had  been  con- 
victed of  crookedness  in  prison  affairs  and  sentenced  to 
a  term  of  confinement.  The  air  was  filled  with  dis- 
trust. Charges  and  rumors  pursued  each  other  in  the 
public  mind.  Consequently  when  the  Warner  admin- 
istration proposed  to  perpetuate  itself  by  the  nomina- 
tion and  election  of  Patrick  H,  Kelley,  who  was  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, there  was  an  upheaval  of  opposition. 
This  took  form  in  sevv  ral  counter  movements. 

A  number  of  my  friends  urged  me  to  become  a  can- 
didate for  Governor.  They  called  attention  to  the  con- 
dition of  affairs  only  too  apparent  in  the  State.  Fur- 
thermore they  stated   that   the  Upper  Peninsula   had 

268 


ELECTED  GOVERXOU  OF  MICIIIGAX 


269 


never  In^en  given  a  frovoriior.     Xatnrally,  they  reminded 
nie  of  my  experienee  in  state  affairs.      I  was  not  per- 
mitted  to  forget  wliat   tliey  had  often  heard  me  say, 
that  I  thought  every  eitizen  was  obligated  to  ser\-e  his 
country  at  any  titni    he  was  needed,  in  peace  or  war, 
and   should  Iiold   himself  in   readiness  to  do  so,  and 
should  freely  and  fre(|uently  offer.      I  had  not  thought 
of  being  a  candidate  but  it  was  not  difficult  to  persuade 
me  to  be.      Perhaps  the  one  thing  that  had  most  »o  do 
with  my  decision,   after  the  duty  that   I   held   to  be 
involved,  was  the  |X)ssession  of  an  independent  tempera- 
ment, that  did  not  seem  to  permit  a  consideration  of  the 
countless  cautions  that  come  so  frecjuently  to  all  p«.'r- 
sons  in  public  place. 

It  really  seemed  that  a  person  so  constituted  might 
render  valuable  service  at  this  very  time.     I  had  in 
mind  a  nunilx-r  of  things  that  I  thought  ought  to  be 
given  state  attention.     One  of  these  was  a  workmen's 
compensation  law.     I  was  heartily  in  favor  of  woman 
suffrage,  and  though  I  could  not  l)e  called  a  prohibition- 
ist as  the  term  was  defined  then,  and  was  not  at  that 
time  a  total  abstainer,  I  was  opposed  to  the  saloon  and 
to  commercialized  booze.     I  knew  that  it  had  the  larg- 
est control  of  state  and  local  politics,  not  only  where  its 
interests  were  involved,  but  extended  its  dictation  far 
beyond  in  a  meddlesome  way  just  because  it  had  the 
power.     I  projmed  to  take  a  shot  at  this  social  hyena 
if  I  got  a  chance,  and  in  order  to  get  a  shot  I  decided 
to  stalk  it.     Moreover,  I  was  in  a  position  of  economic 
independence,  with  sufficient  means  so  that  I  did  not 
have  to  depend  upon  a  public  income,  nor  u{)on  persons 
who  might  subscribe  to  a  campaign  with  the  hope  and 
purpose  of  controlling  me,  and  yet  I  did  not  possess 
so  much  that  my  interests  ramified  in  directions  where  I 


'    i 


I 


ii 


270 


TilK  IKON  iniXTKK 


mi^lit  suffer  injurv  from  those  who  control  the  money 
affairs  of  the  eountrv  and  destroy  tlie  eredit  of  any  who 
o|)j)ose  tlieni,  whieh  is  a  way  they  have  if  one  falb  into 
their  power. 

I  heeanie  a  candidate  for  Ciovcrnor.  There  were 
thr"e  other  candidates :  Patrick  H.  Kellev,  of  Lansing; 
Amos  ^^ussehnan,  <»f  (Jrand  Rapids,  and  .lustiee  Robert 
M.  ilontfjomery,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Michigan. 
At  the  start  it  looked  as  though  Mr.  Kelley  would  win 
easily  if  the  Warner  opposition,  general  as  it  was,  was 
divided  among  three.  The  l)ost-e«iuipped  candidate  of 
all.  in  some  respects,  was  .Justice  .Mttntgomerv.  He  was 
a  distinguished  member  of  .Michigan's  highest  court 
and  had  friends  in  every  part  of  the  State.  lie  had 
the  backing  of  the  Supreme  Court,  which  at  that  time 
did  not  hesitate  to  sit  into  the  game  of  politics,  and  it 
knew  how  with  the  best  of  them. 

There  is  a  constitutional  jirovision  in  Michigan  pro- 
hibiting a  circuit  judge  from  being  a  candidate  for  a 
{(olitical  office  while  on  the  bench  and  for  one  year  after 
retiring  from  such  service.  1  did  not  believe  that  Mr. 
Montgomery  had  considered  whether  it  was  right  for 
him,  as  a  member  of  a  court  whose  duty  it  was  to  en- 
force this  law.  to  do  that  which  was  a  violation  of  the 
very  principle  he  was  obligati'd  to  compel  others  to  ob- 
serve (nor  did  Mr.  Hughes  search  his  soul  deeply  in 
this  regard).  I  was  certain  he  had  no  moral  right  to 
be  a  candidate  and  I  even  (juestioned  his  legal  right. 
Against  the  counsel  of  all  n»y  dose  advisers,  1  addressed 
an  open  letter  to  him  setting  forth  the  claim  that  legiti- 
mately and  ethically  he  had  no  right  to  be  a  candidate 
and  ending  by  demanding  his  withdrawal.  I  was  de- 
termined at  the  outset  to  be  open  and  aboveboard  in  all 
t'f  my  aotiiins  and  utterances  as  a  candidate,  wherever 


ELECTED  GOVEHXOH  OF  MICHIGAN     271 


the  welfare  of  the  State  was  concerned.     My   state- 
ment caused  a  sensation  in  political  circles.     It  made 
the  friends  of  Justice  Montjroniery  very  aiifrry.  and  thev 
were  swift  to  call  attention  to  the  act  as  proof  of  my 
backwoods'  cnideness  and  my  unfitness  to  Ih>  Governor 
of  a  great  state.     Also  for  a  time,  Justi.-e  Montgomery 
was  as  anpry  as  his  fri.'nds.      Finally,  his  high  sense  of 
honor,  his  keen,  infelhrtual  appnviation  of  the  justness 
of  my  position,  and  his  ethical  standards  caused  him  to 
view   the   situation    differently.     He    was   hig   enough 
finally  to  achieve  self-mastery.     lie  sent  me  word,  in 
fact  told  me  personally,  that  if  I  would  let  up  on  the 
matter  he  would  retire  from  the  field  if  a  ftTaceftil  way 
was  presented.     At  once,  I  took  the  matter  up  with  the 
real  friends  of  the  Justice.     The  result  was  that  he  re- 
tired from  the  gubernatorial  contest  and  accepted  a  place 
on  the  newly  erected  intermediary  court  at  Washington. 
This  left  three  candidates.     The  nomination  of  Mr. 
Kelley  was  freely  predicted.     He  was  a  cheery,  genial, 
lovable  {H-rson,  who  carried  the  serious  things  of  life 
lightly  and   radiated  good-fellowship.     As  a   political 
campaigner   he   was   supposed   to  be   invincible.     His 
friends  said  hopefully  and  warningly :     *•  Just  wait  un- 
til he  gets  that  man  Oslwrn  on  the  "platform  and  watch 
Kelley  clean  up  on  him." 

I  quite  agreed  with  them  that  Mr.  Kelley  might  do 
things  to  me,  but  even  in  secret  I  was  not  afraid.  I 
had  gone  into  the  fight  hammer  and  tongs,  and  had  made 
up  my  mind  to  give  as  hard  thrusts  as  I  could  and  take 
smilingly  all  the  enemy  -rave  to  me.  While  vet  a  boy 
I  had  been  taught  that  in  life  a  man  must  be  just  as 
good  as  an  anvil  as  he  is  as  a  hammer;  take  blows  as  well 
as  give  them. 

There  were  the  usual  Lincoln  Thib,  Chandler  Club, 


TIIK  JKON  lIl'NTKIi 


MfKinl*  V  (Inl)  and  Washinpton  Birtliday  political  ban- 
<|U»fs  that  arc  (luif*-  (wf-uliar  to  .Midiipin  wlicn-  they 
have  Ik<  II  t|<Vflu|ici|  fu  the  iirli  potency.  Mil— clinaii  did 
iiiit  scciu  to  l)c  iimcli  ill  cvi<|ciicc  at  tlic<c  fc:i-.ts.  Kcllcv 
and  I  were  invited  fu  all  <>f  tlieiii.  At  tirst  the  attrao- 
tidii  wa<  what  Kcljev  niijrht  do  to  me.  Afterwards 
the  curiosity  centerccj  ahoiit  what  F  niiirht  say  ahont  the 
Warner- Kelley  niachine.  I  luid  to  lio(»k  Kelley  up  to 
the  Warner  odium,  which  was  not  hard  to  do,  iK'canse 
his  pneroiis  dis|K»sition  had  intlucnced  him  prnxl- 
natiiredly  to  tap  alonp  after  Warner. 

There  was  a  preat  deal  of  distrust  felt  hetwrcn  the 
two  peninsulas  of  .Micliii:an.  'i'he  pr-ople  of  the  Lower 
IN'iiinsuhi  thniiL'hf  «d  the  I'pper  Peninsula  as  In-ing 
c^mtrolled  hy  a  coterie  of  niiiiiiiir  aiito<'rats  who  were 
Jtolitical  despots,  possessed  of  a  rleterniinatioii  to  dod^e 
their  taxes  and  duties  and  iiiilk  the  State  of  its  rich  re- 
sources with  no  return,  or  as  little  as  possihio.  The 
rpper  Peninsula,  and  esitecially  the  people  of  the  niin- 
iiifr  rciri(»ns.  re;r;,rded  their  Lower  Peninsula  fellow- 
citizens  as  heiiif;  a  lot  of  hayseeds  and  rulM-s,  who  were 
not  fit  for  free  irovernnient  and  impossihle  of  con.pre- 
hendinp  the  ni(>rits  of  the  northern  portion  of  the  State. 
My  opponents  used  this  prejudice  and  fanned  it  per- 
sistently. Ti  o  population  of  the  State  was  about  two 
and  a  half  million  people  in  the  Lower  Peninsula,  two- 
thirds  of  the  area,  atid  about  three  hundred  thousand  in 
the  I'jiper  Peninsula.  The  northern  sectioti  was  over- 
whelmiiiirly  Uejuiblican.  and  had  been  known,  espe- 
cially when  General  Al^r,.r  was  beaten  in  the  lower  sec- 
tion, to  reverse  the  Democratic  decision  below  the 
straits.  Such  fealty  had  its  reward  from  the  Kepub- 
lican  mana^'ers  just  to  the  extent  that  was  thought  nee- 


KLK(TKI)  (lOVERXOR  OF  MICIIIGAX     273 


essary  to  keep  it  in  line.  It  liad  novor  Wn  acrordnl  a 
(Jovcrnor  and  man.v  wiso  onrs  pn-dictcd  that  it  nrvcr 
would.  I  do  not  think  tlu-rv  was  a  timr  during  tho 
canipaipi  whon  my  In-st  frif-nds  in  tho  l'pp<^r  Pcninsuhi 
thonjrlit  I  could  win.  I  did  not  worry  alniut  that,  nor 
was  I  d('«'ply  conccrnrd  alnnit  the  issuf- of  the  contest. 

I  (hH'idcd  that  the  hattic  irr«)und  was  the  Lower  I'enin- 
stihi  and  there  I    went.  ;roinj;  from  county  to  countv, 
most  of  the  time  hy  aut(miohih\      I   did   not  nu»k.'  a 
speech   in   the   I'ppcr   Peninsula.      I  enjoyed  th."  cam- 
paign.     It  was  hard,  hut  it  >;ave  me  a  chance  to  see  and 
talk  to  the  |M'oph.  which  I  did  with  earnest  hiuntness 
and  direct  conviction.      1    visited  every  county  in   the 
Lower   I'eninsula  and   made  speeches  in   all  of  them, 
often  ten  or  fifteen  in  a  day,  nuiny  of  course  lM>in<r  onlv 
a  few  minutes  in  leiifrth,  and  many  of  ^Tcater  len;:tli. 
When  the  campaifm  was  at  its  heifrht  as  nniny  as  thirty 
automohiles  would   follow  me  through  the  countv.   as 
upon  a  triumphal  tour,     liands,  hanners  and  enthusi- 
a.sm  made  an  atmosphere,  and  the  audiences  were  certain 
to  he  fr,K,d.      For  the  most  part  I  did  not  talk  politics. 
It  was  safe  to  assume  that  the  voters  understood.     Thev 
did.      I  promised  to  clean  out  the  Warner  puijr  that  had 
wrecked  and  disfrraced  Michifran.      That  .seemed  to  Ik- 
what  they  wanted. 

Just  heforo  election  day  Amos  Musselman  encotiraped 
the  editor  of  the  Escaimba  Jounml  to  make  an  attack 
upon  my  honesty.  Thousands  of  copies  of  the  pa|.er 
were  circulated  .,ver  the  State.  The  enemy  saw  that 
the  libel  was  reprinted  wherever  |K)ssibk'.  they  hoped 
that  it  was  too  late  for  me  to  defend  myself.  I  had  tho 
editor  arrested  at  once  and  started  suit  aptinst  Mussel- 
man  and  others.      I  felt  within  myself  that  if  the  peo- 


274 


niK  IKON  IirXTKK 


plr  rniild  Im'  f(H)l((l  l»y  uii  rU'vcntli-hour  move  of  thifl 
kind.  fluTc  was  no  wji.v  to  prevent  it.  Knowing  my  in- 
nrHM-ncf  I  trusted  to  tlir  ^'oocl  scn(»i'  of  th»'  voters.  At 
flu-  priniaricH,  I  was  siiccc-oful  l>.v  the  following  vote: 
Oslxirn.  NS,2T0;  Kclh-.v,  r»2.;{.{7;  Mussehnan,  r)(),721. 
My  vote  in  the  I.ower  Peninsula  was  the  hijr  surprise 
to  the  dopestors.  IJelow  the  straits  it  was  0{>,47.)  and 
18,75»1  alH)ve. 

As  soon  as  the  matters  eould  be  foreed  to  an  issue,  the 
editor  who  had  lilH-led  me  was  convicted,  and  Mussel- 
man,  in  humiliation,  made  public  admission  that  he  had 
done  wrong,  and  the  ease  against  him  was  dropped.  As 
showing  his  fairness  and  good  citizenship  and  his  real- 
ization of  his  responsibilities  as  a  publisher,  I  may  say 
here  that  in  t'.MH  when  I  was  a  candidate  for  the  nomi- 
nation of  Tnited  States  Senator,  this  editor  was  one  of 
my  St n ingest  supporters. 

The  state  campaign  that  followed  was  not  as  much 
of  a  contest  as  the  primary  had  been,  but  it  was  a  fight. 
The  late  Lawton  T.  Ilemans,  of  Ingham  County,  was 
nominated  by  the  Democrats.  Ilemans  was  a  strong 
man.  I?e  had  been  a  candidate  for  Governor  before 
and  was  well  known  and  resjK'cted.  As  a  lawyer  and 
l(M'al  historian,  he  had  covered  much  of  Michigan  cred- 
itably. It  was  a  mid-year  campaign,  between  the  presi- 
dential contests.  There  was  nothing  to  prevent  inter- 
est from  centering  upon  a  state  campaign. 

Republican  dissatisfaction  and  insurgency  were  in  the 
air.  The  Taft  administration  program  of  blunders  was 
just  becoming  known.  Only  seven  States  in  the  Union 
were  carried  by  the  Republicans.  I  received  one  of  the 
largest  majorities  given  a  Republican  Governor  that 
year,   1910.     The  vote  on  election  day  was  Osbom 


ELECTKD  GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN     275 

2i)-2,fO:i;  Ilrnians,  150,770,  or  a  plurulitv  for  me  of 

Durinjj  the  eampaipn  the  Democrat.s  had  combe<l  inv 
fffM.nl  witli  particular  care,  but  fouud  nothing  they 
cuuld  Ude. 


niAPTER  XXXIIl 


I    START    A    FKJIIT    AOAI.NST    TIIK    SAI.OOX    THAT    KEEPS 
IT    TO    TIIK    KM) 

AVTVU  clcotii.ii  in  the  autumn  of  1010  I  retired  to 
Dccrfdot  Lddiii  where  .Justice  Steere.  the  Ilon- 
orahh-  liovs  .1.  Criiin  iiiid  I  have  kept  open  house 
duriiif^  the  deer  season  f.ir  nearly  a  (piarter  of  a  century. 
It  is  a  iM'autifid  sp-t  in  a  primeval  forest  of  mapio, 
birch  and  Iwech.  Pine  jilains  furnisli  a  clianjre  in  one 
direction,  and  deep  .-uainps  think  the  liardwood  and  irive 
Jair  f(,r  hear  and  w.ilf  and  lynx.  Shadowy  hemlocks, 
with  limhs  In-cU'ckcd  with  old  man's  Ix-ard,  like  Spanish 
moss,  and  red-hcrried  yew  shintande  as  earpet  make  a 
wild  ^^arden  where  the  fawns  hide  in  sj)ring,  and  bucks 
simrt.  paw  and  liorn  trees  in  autumn. 

Here  1  wrote  my  ina\i<rural  messajre  on  some  roupli 
scraps  of  paper;  no  library  but  my  thoughts,  and  no 
reference  book  but  my  heart.  Deerfoot  was  then  onlv 
a  inode-t  loii'  shack  of  one  room,  where  friends  came  and 
rolled  in  on  the  floor,  and  rou^died  it  in  a  way  to  take 
the  city  stillness  out  of  body  and  spirit.  Jlere  I  wrote 
down  briefly  my  views  upon  the  liquor  question  for  my 
niessajic  as  follows: 

TcniiH'rance  is  a  matter  of  personal  discipline  and  is 
more  of  a  ni<tral  and  surial  iiroUom  tiiaii  ih.litical.  The 
rc^'ulatidii  of  the  HtiinT  trattic  is  larjrely  a  iinlitiral  func- 
tion. Tlic  upheaval  and  interest  in  Michifjan  and  over  the 
country  along  these  linos  arc.  iu  my  opinion,  aimed  more 

276 


A  FIGHT  AGAIX8T  THE  SALOOX 


27" 


Vi  i 


It 


at  the  liquor  traffic  tlian  at  the  temrorato  usp  of  alcoholic 
beveraRcs.     It  ar)|)far8  that  tomppranw  is  han<licappe<l  un- 
less those  who  btqi(>ve  even   in  rationalism  bocome  excited 
and  militant.     The  saloon  of  to-day  is  a  social  saprophyte. 
Always  it  has  been  a  breiHlinp  place  of  lawlessness  an.l  a 
culture  frround   of  vice.     So   arro>rant   had   it   In-come  that 
government  by  saloon  and  rule  by  brewery  was  the  practical 
condition.     The   candidate   who   di.I    not    bow   to   the   joint 
keeper  and  the  local  official  who  did  not  recopnize  the  po- 
litical  power  of  alcohol,   as  manifeste<I   tlirouph   low  proff- 
freries.   were  in    for   a   fipht  all   .,f  the  time  to  save   their 
political   i-vcs.     Br.-weries   were  not  contented    with   a   dis- 
tribution to  such  saloons  as  mipht  naturallv  exist.     So  they 
entered  upon  an   artificial  policy  of  startinp  saloons  at  all 
convenient  places  wliere  the  consumr.tion  of  their  pro<luct 
would  be  increased.     There  is  intcn.se  competiti.m  between 
brewers  for  the   installation   and  control   of  saloons     Con- 
ditions  became  intolerable.     The  i)eople  broke  out   in  con- 
tagious rebellion,  all   invoked  by  the  exapperatixl  commer- 
cializing of  alcohol. 

A  desire  for  better  conditions  exists  in  the  heart  of  every 
Rood  citizen.     The  average  man  <loes  not  wish  t..  l>e  fanat- 
ical or  intolerant.     He  ,loes  not  wish   to  apply  sumptuary 
aws  that  abridge  per.s(,nal  liberty  beyon.l  the  point  of  pub- 
lic good.     But  government  by  saloon  an.l  brewerv  mu'^t  go 
and  artificial  stimulation  of  the  traffic  in  beer  an.l  whiskey 
must  be  discontinu.^1.     In  a  degree  it  is  true  that  the  sa- 
loon IS  the  poor  man's  club.     Rut  the  ri.-li  man's  club  af- 
fects only  the  more  or  less  useless  few.  while  the  poor  man's 
club,  If  low  in  character  an.l  degenerating  in  infiuence.  in- 
jures  the    useful    many.     Society    can    stan.l   crumlding   at 
the  top,  for  that  ir  the  natural  spot  of  de.-ay.  but  it  cannot 
survive  necrosis  of  its  foundation  masses.     The  local  option 
policy   IS  good   and   out  of  it   can   cme   im,.roving  condi- 
tions.    In  communities  where  saloons  exist  ther.-  slnuld  not 
be  more  than  one  to  a  thousand  population,  and  breweries 
should  be  divorce.1  from  their  ownership.     The  license  slu.uld 
be  higher  but  more  ettenfinn  should  be  paid  to  the  character 
of  the  saloonkeeper  and   the  ..onHuct   of  the  saloon   than   to 
the  amount  of  the  license.     I  would  =ugpe=t  a  law  provid- 


II 


i:l 


:  t 
t 

i 


i 


i   \ 


278 


THE  IKON   IirXTER 


iiiff  for  fuller  stnto  suporvision  of  saloons.  Thr  Statr  <li9- 
ponsary  systcJii  is  ideal,  but  |)rov«Hl  a  faihiro  in  South 
Carolina.  In  Russia,  whore  alcohol  is  a  Rovernment  mo- 
nopoly, the  (lispensar>'  system  is  fairly  eoniniendabh'.  In 
Pennsylvania  the  courts  remilate  the  liciuor  tratiic,  tt'ivv  and 
revoke  licen.ses.     In  Canafla  tlie  hotel  system  i)revails. 

I  would  like  to  see  the  question  studied  for  Miohitran  by 
an  honorary  commission  to  be  compose<l  of  some  of  the  most 
noble,  courajreons  and  unselfish  citizens  of  the  State. 

This  is  an  ajre  of  stimulation.  The  jihysical  tensity  of 
our  civilization  makes  for  it.  The  quantities  consumed  in 
this  country  alone  of  alcohol  in  various  forms,  opium,  co- 
caine, tea,  coffee  and  tobacco  are  startlinp  and  transfix 
with  horror  when  contemplated,  commandinp  the  interest  of 
every  person  concerned  in  the  \v  Itare  <if  s<iciety.  Over 
stimulation  is  the  source  fif  disease.  |)auperism  and  crime. 
In  the  lonjf  run  these  conditions  can  be  corre<'ted  only  by 
fToiuK  to  the  foundation  of  things.  Man  must  not  drive 
man  so  hard.  Conditionr,  of  life  for  the  masses  must  be  bet- 
ter. Rest  for  tlie  weary,  food  for  the  underfed,  entertain- 
ment and  respite  for  those  wliose  monotony  of  life  is  caused 
by  over-work  must  be  provided  and  finer  human  fellowship 
must  come  to  prevail. 

While  these  ideals  are  working  out,  proclaiming  the  com- 
ing some  day,  of  tiie  s>ii)erman.  the  State  must  see  that 
selfish  and  careless  individtnils  do  not  over  capitalize  the 
appetites  of  man.  Wholesome  regidation  cannot  grow  out 
of  fanatical  intolerance  or  cxaggerattnl  extremity.  Op- 
pressive rule  by  majority  is  only  another  form  of  the  appli- 
cation of  might.  The  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number 
should  be  succeeded  by  the  aim  to  accomplish  the  greatest 
average  good  for  all.  This  will.  I  believe,  be  your  inspira- 
tion for  suggested  corrective  legislation. 

I  had  stalked  within  range  of  the  most  deadly  thing 
I  knew  of  and  was  to  take  this  shot  at  it.  Xo  recent 
Michigan  governor  had  referred  to  it.  The  subject  was 
politically  taboo.  T  knew  that  it  would  bring  to  me 
all  the  trouble  the  whiskey  makers  and  whiskey  sellers 


If 

Ik 


{ 


I 


ri 


i  I 


¥ 

i' 


A  FIGHT  AGAINST  THE  SALOON     279 


could  oppose  me  with.  There  was  no  halfway  realiza- 
tion of  it  upon  my  part. 

The  effect  of  this  and  other  things  I  proposed  to  at- 
tempt to  do  was  to  arrive  at  the  decision  that  I  would 
not  be  a  candidate  for  a  second  term.  All  of  my  ad- 
visers endeavored  to  dissuade  me  from  making  such  an 
announcement,  and  especially  at  the  outset.  But  I 
could  not  be  deterred  by  their  convincing  arguments 
that  it  was  not  trood  ;)olitics,  I  was  not  playing  poli- 
tics, had  not  been  and  did  not  intend  to  start.  That 
was  the  trouble  with  everything  in  public  Michigan. 
Everybody  had  been  playing  politics  every  ..iinute  until 
things  had  reached  an  impossible  mess.  The  one  thing 
I  hoped  to  convey  to  the  public  was  that  I  had  no  per- 
ional  political  object  in  view  as  a  result  of  any  act; 
nothing  but  the  public  good.  It  seemed  to  me  that  the 
only  way  to  start  fair  was  to  make  an  honest  one-terra 
decision,  announce  it  and  stick  to  it.  Down  deep  within 
my  being  I  knev;  the  danger  to  my  plans  that  lurked  in 
a  desire  for  a  second  term. 

So  insidious  are  the  operations  of  desire  that  it  may 
almost  be  said  of  it  when  it  exists  that  no  act  of  a  man's 
life  is  independent  of  it.  He  may  be  as  honest  as  is  hu- 
manly possible  and  as  unconscious,  but  his  acts  will  be 
influenced.  So  I  burned  all  bridges  behind  nie  and  felt 
better  when  I  had  done  so.  There  was  very  much  to 
do,  and  I  did  not  wish  the  handicap  of  trimming  or 
playing  politics  for  a  second  term. 


if 


cnAPTP:R  XXXIV 


I-IOHTI\(;    FOK    TlIK    MFK    <tK    Ml<   IltlJAN'    AGAINST    THE 

IIIMAN     lil  OODSICKKIJS    THAT    SlIiSIST    f)N 

SOIIKTY    KVEKYWIIKKK 

TIIK  first  of  Jiiimnrv.  I'.Ml.  T  wns  iiianiriratod  as 
(iiivcriior  of  Micliiiziin.  In  order  to  devote  every 
('iierity  to  the  proirrani  of  aeeoiiiplisliiueiit  I  had 
outlined,  I  liad  determined  that  I  would  h'ave  the  olfieo 
at  the  close  of  my  two-year  term  and  wouhi  not  he  a 
eandi(hite  for  rei'leetion.  There  was  mueli  to  do  and 
I  realized  that  I  would  have  stronjr  o])j)osition  to  tho 
I)as>a<;-e  of  the  measures  I  adv<M>ated.  The  ptilitieal  or- 
pin izations  of  iU'troit  were  jxnverful  at  the  state  capi- 
tal. Detidir  control  liad  ]):isscd  lonir  hefon*  into  the 
hands  of  a  local  Tammany  that  would  stop  at  nothing?. 
The  oriianization,  u-iwritten,  hut  understood,  included 
men  in  Imth  the  Kepultlican  and  Democratic  parties, 
^radinj:-  up  from  convicts  to  semi-respectahles  and  con- 
nected with  men  on  hoth  sides  occupying  positions  of 
trust  and  prominence,  hut  ready  at  all  times  to  profit 
by  their  political  relationship  to  this  tonjr,  and  just  as 
ready  to  he  parties  to  questionable  jxilitical  i)racticcs 
that  they  might  not  think  of  resorting  to  if  proposed  iu 
their  professions.  This  gang  was  "  The  Vote  Swap- 
p<'rs'  l,i'agu<',"  muiied  such  by  E.  G.  Pipp.  manager  at 
that  time  of  the  DclroU  Xfirs.  ^fost  of  the  men  had 
double  standards  of  practice;  one  for  jxditics  and  an- 
other for  business.     ;Most  of  those  who  aided  the  crooked 

280 


FOK  THE  LIFE  OF  MICIIKIAX        281 

league  in  the  work  were  well  known.  The  Repiihlicans 
were  even  worse  than  their  Democrat  partners,  beeause 
they  presumed  to  hold  their  heads  a  little  higher,  cloak 
themselves  in  a  bespotted  mantle  of  respectability  and 
patronize  the  town  clubs  and  the  golf  links,  and  even  f^o 
so  far  as  to  identify  themselves  with  a  church  if  it 
served  a  purpose.  These  fine  bucktails  divided  the  of- 
fices among  their  faithful,  controlled  the  Council, 
boasted  of  their  standing  in  the  several  judicial  strata 
and  most  thoroughly  removed  the  political  viscera  from 
any  refonner  or  citizens'  movement  that  started  any 
Taiping  revolution.  I  had  to  decide  whether  I  would 
serve  Michigan  or  the  Vote  Swappers'  League.  I  chose 
the  flag  of  :Michigan.  The  word  was  passed  to  the  De- 
troit gang  that  I  could  not  be  controlled.  This  started 
a  war  uf»on  me  that  has  gone  the  length  of  bitterness. 

The  fight  was  staged  first  in  the  Legislature.  I  found 
myself  as  Governor  at  first  unable  to  secure  a  majority 
for  anything  for  which  any  credit  or  responsibility  at- 
tached to  the  Governor's  office.  Gradually  the  legisla- 
tive opposition  wore  down.  Finally  I  had  a  certain 
majority  in  the  House  and  sw^n  after  in  the  Senate. 
The  failures  in  legislation  were  few  and  only  of  meas- 
ures that  required  a  two-thirds  majority. 

A  multitude  of  things  came  up  in  the  executive  office. 
I  had  succeeded  an  administration  unfriendly  to  me, 
and  things  were  not  made  easy  for  me,  which  did  not 
alarm  or  dissuade  me.  1  had  been  accustomed  to  long 
hours  and  there  was  keen  delight  in  putting  them  in 
now. 

The  very  day  I  was  inaugurated  a  plot  was  discov- 
ered to  blow  up  Jackson  prison  with  dynamite.  The 
warden  was  new  and  there  was  much  nervousness.  De- 
pendable guards  were  not  known  from  the  ones  in  league 


i  t 


•  * 

11- 


II 


f    II 


..I 


282 


thp:  iron  iirxTER 


with  the  convicts.  I  cnunsolod  with  Wardon  Russell, 
of  Mar(|uotte  prison,  and  Wardon  Fuller,  of  the  Ionia 
Hcfonnatory,  both  oHicials  <>''  Ump  cxperienee  and  high 
ability.  I  succeeded  in  fjettiiip  a  line  on  the  bad  men 
in  Jackson.  I  had  them  brought  to  the  executive  office 
one  at  a  time  and  between  two  and  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  so  that  absolute  secrecy  might  be  secured.  I 
succeeded  in  obtaining  enough  infnrmati<>n  to  Iwate 
and  remove  cpiantitics  of  high  explosives,  and  to  break 
up  the  convict  gang,  distributing  the  members  among 
other  prisons.  While  at  this  task  I  learned  many  ofhcr 
incidental  facts,  ^ify  greatest  surprise  was  caused  and 
my  indignation  was  parti<Mi]aily  aro\is"d  by  the  indis- 
putable knowledge  that  a  traffic  in  pardons  and  paroles 
was  going  on.  T  forced  at  once  tlie  resignation  of  the 
Board  of  Pardons  and  a  new  hoard  was  ap|Ktinted.  I 
appointed  a  complete,  new  bi-partisan  Prison  Board  of 
big  men. 

I  learned  that  one  of  the  Tax  Connnissioners  of  the 
State  was  also  the  retained  attorney  of  a  big  manufac- 
turer of  automobiles.  Of  course  the  lawyer  could  not 
serve  two  masters  for  conflicting  interests.  I  asked  him 
to  resign  and  he  did  so.  Another  Tax  Commissioner 
pave  very  little  time  to  the  work  and  his  performance 
was  very  unsatisf;utorv.  In  fact,  the  Commission  was 
in  a  rut.  I  asked  this  man  to  resign.  The  epidemic 
phrase  was  "  Go  to  hell."  This  fellow  applied  it  and  1 
removed  him.  This  removal  made  comj)letely  new 
three  important  boards.  I  cleaned  out  every  vestige  of 
the  old  administration  that  seemed  to  be  necessary  to 
wholesome  state  administration.  In  doinc  so  I  only 
ke])t  faith  with  the  people.  It  was  what  I  had  prom- 
ised them  T  would  do. 

When  I   became  Governor  a  deficit  existed  in  the 


FOR  THE  LIFK  OF  MICIIKJAN        28.J 


:i 


state  trrasurv  of  almut  a  million  dollars.  I  was  deter- 
iriiiu'd  to  wipe  this  out.  Many  (rononiies  wrre  inau- 
gurated in  the  niana^t'iucnt  of  state  institutions.  In 
this  work  I  was  aided  li.v  every  institutional  superin- 
tendent in  ^riehipui  and  h.v  all  the  appointive  heads  of 
departnu'nts.  It  was  easy  f.>  save  the  State's  money  if 
one  manajred  with  anythiiiir  like  the  same  care  with 
which  private  business  is  eondueted. 

The  new  ennstifution  of  Miehi<ran  pives  the  Governor 
unusual  fiseal  authority,  hi  fact,  it  ini{K)ses  in  him  the 
power  and  responsibility  practically  of  financial  man- 
ager. The  Governor  can  veto  all  or  any  part  of  an  ap- 
propriation bill.  I  carefully  went  over  every  bill  with 
those  interested  in  it.  As  a  result  I  er.t  out  nearly 
eno\iph  to  pay  the  state  indebtedness.  This  financial 
use  of  the  veto  constitutes  a  precedent. 

Fiut  it  was  in  savin;;  through  (vonomies  introduced 
everywhere  that  the  hijx  results  were  obtained.  At  the 
conclnaii.n  of  my  administration  the  State  was  out  of 
debt  and  the  treasury  contained  a  surplus  of  more  than 
two  million  dollars.  This  was  achieved  and  at  the  same 
time  more  money  was  appropriated  for  good  roads  than 
the  estimate  and  more  for  the  state  university  than  ever 
before.  Tlie  tax  rate  was  alsf)  reduced.  Also  this  sav- 
ing improved  the  conditions  at  all  state  institutions,  be- 
cause the  very  care  that  mad<'  economy  possible  nat- 
urally conduced  to  improvements  in  every  detail  of  serv- 
ice. 

The  rcp;tilar  session  of  the  Legislature  adjourned. 

Early  in  H»12  T  called  a  special  session  and  followed 
it  immediately  with  a  second  special  session.  Tnder 
the  Michigan  constitution  the  Governor  is  empowered 
to  summon  the  Legislature  in  extraordinary  session. 
At  such  only  those  measures  submitted  in  message  by 


II 


>84 


THE  TROX  nrXTER 


fill'  (lovfTiior  iiiiiy  !«'  roiisidcp'tl.  The  ffToct  is  to  ooin- 
[K'l  If  jrisljitivr  coiicpiitriitioii  aiui  fn  fcwux  the  eves  nl"  the 
pulili*'  tipoti  itiiportiint  nviisurcs.  At  a  n'friilar  session 
then'  is  pnlliii;:  iitnl  liaiilintr  ami  trarlini;  aiwl  coiifiision, 
until  the  |inip|ic  is  lost  in  a  iniiddlr  of  vr-xntious  circuni- 
8tanc»>  and  tlic  hirislators  arc  nearly  as  liadly  otF. 

Vcrv  near  to  my  heart  I  liad  iIk-  matter  of  a  work- 
men's eomjieMsatinii  law.  I  liad  ;riven  the  snliject  con- 
siderahle  >tiidy  in  (Jennany  and  Kn^dand  and  had  talkiul 
it  over  often  with  my  intimate  as>o<'iat>'s  and  many 
others.  The  f.ej:i>lature  in  re^'nlar  session  had  em- 
powered the  (lovernor  to  a[)p<tint  a  commission  to  stndy 
the  (|uestion  and  draft  a  form  of  a  hill  emlKidyinf.'  a  siiit- 
ahle  law.  The  commission  appointed,  servini;  without 
pay,  had  iriven  earnest  attention  to  the  important  snh- 
jecf  and  had  snhmitted  a  report  of  iii<lnl>italile  value. 
To  ohtain  action  upon  this  was  my  chief  first  p\irpose 
for  a  special  se>.>ion.  Also  I  wi>hed  to  nfili/e  this  meri- 
torious measure  to  further  define  and  stiffen  partisan 
lines  in  thi'  l,ei:islature,  so  that  I  mi>rht  feed  in  ;r<M)d 
measui.'s  that  otherwise  would  not  carry.  The  work- 
in^'men's  compensation  act  passj-d.  Tlie  I.eirislatiire 
empowered  the  Governor  to  appoint  an  Industrial  Acci- 
dent Hoard  to  administer  the  law.  The  success  of  the 
new  law  mi^rlit  larj^ely  depend  upon  the  practical  foun- 
dation laid  for  it  in  its  earliest  application  and  inter- 
pretation. 1  secured  for  the  l)oard  the  oidy  two  mem- 
bers of  the  commission  that  framt-d  the  law  who  could  l»e 
secured  for  state  service.  By  virtue  of  the  understand- 
ing and  administration  of  this  law  by  the  first  board,  it 
came  to  be  recognized  as  one  of  the  best  com{)ensation 
enactments  in  America,  It  has  been  copied  by  many 
other  States,  Gradually  it  will  undoubtedly  be  brought 
nearer  to  perfection. 


ff'\  ^  '^^' 


A  press  cartoon.     19 lu 


a 


I'OK  TIIK  LlhK  OV  MiCIlUiAN        285 

Polico  ('omini<si„nir  Croul,  of  Dotmit,  «„  ..(Hrial  ..f 
rarf  ruur.i^v  «n,J  ra|M.itv.  luul  tnM  ,..  that  of  si.m,-  nrv 
t'luefii  hundred  .shI.m.hs  in  D.-tmit  ,,uif.-  tw,I.-..  In.ndn-d 
were  ()wnfd   l>v   brcwrrs  and  .listill.rs.     It   wa-   tli.ir 
practic..  to  start  a  Nh.zi.  juinf  on  cvcrv  likt-lv  «'ornrr 
they  could  obtain   and  .■sjHHMally  near'  factory  doors 
lircwcry-owncd  ,-<aloons  were  the  worst  of  all.      I  saw  to 
It  that  a  hill  was  intr.Kiiice.l  nnikin^r  it  ille,;,,!  for  hrew- 
iTs  and  distillers  f(.  own  or  ,.ncoiira;re  sal(M.ns.      Forth- 
with fell  u|H)n  me  the  liipior  people.     The  Hoval  Ark 
an  ass.K-iation  of  sal.K.n  keeper^  in  Detroit,  ond.'avored 
to  intinudato  nienilMrs  of  the  I.e^islatnre.     Conditions 
of  much  bitterness  arose.      H„t  the  bill  ^'came  a  law. 

I  found  the  Michijran  Hondiufr  Companv  to  U'  the 
most  hurtful  and  the  buhh-st  source  of  evil  in  the  State. 
It  was  orfranized  under  a  law  that  ^av.-  it  the  practical 
j-ontrol   of  all  the  .sal.M.ns  in   the  State.     If  a  Hal.x.n 
keeiH>r  did  not  oIh-v  its  In-hests.  his  Ix.nds  were  refused. 
It  onarp-d  bijr  fees  and  was  strong'  Hnanciallv.     It  had 
on<'  or  more  agi-nts  in  every  county  an.j  cleverly  selwted 
theui    from    amon^r    ,|,e    best-e.iuipped    attonlevs.      Hv 
means  of  u  retainer  it  secured  the  -ervi.vs  ..f  "]i:v. /.-rs 
who    would    not    naturally    line    up    with    it.     Thus 
e(iuipj)ed,   the  ^lichip,,,    lJ.,„din^r  ('...npany   In-came  a 
dan^'erous  entity.     Of  it  men  were  afraid.  "  It  was  the 
core  organization  around  which  was  built  the  opposition 
to  woman  suffrage,  prohibition  ai.d  all  related  reforms. 
1  asked  the  Legislature  to  rejwal  the  law  giving  it  exist- 
ence and  I  made  a  tight  against  it  that  was  nearly  suc- 
cessful. 

The  fight  at  Lansing  while  these  bills  «'ere  pending 
became  a  vicious  one.  with  enough  bad  feeling  and  per- 
sonal passion  almost  to  obscure  reason  for  a  time.  I 
received  as  many  as  ten  letters  in  one  day  threatening 


11 


280 


TIIK  IKON  IIUXTKIi 


niv  life.  To  fliiM'  couardlv  iiicssaircs  1  pnid  no  atten- 
tion. Tlicv  only  intlicatcd  tin  feeling  tliat  existed 
anion^'  tiie  wiii>k(>ites.  iKnaniite  \va<  i)laced  under 
my  liou>e  Imt  it  did  not  expl.xl.-.  My  residenr-e  was  on 
fire  twii-e  niy-teriinisly.  One  of  these  tires  (weurred  at 
two  o'clock  in  tlie  morninir.  I  was  attacked  on  all  sides. 
Tlirondi"nt  all  the  contlict  I  did  not  worry  nor  h>se 
.sleep.  y\\  wit'e  stood  it  Itravely  hnt  confesses  imw  she 
was  d(e|ily  worried  and  wearied.  IJut  oidy  words  of 
cheer  and  courap'  came  from  her  then.  As  for  myself, 
J  thouiihl  I  was  riiiht  and  1  think  S(.  now  when  the  em- 
bers of  thondit  an-  colorless  fn.m  tire.  IVrhaps  1  took 
on  some  of  the  spirit  of  the  crusader.  At  least  I  placed 
my  tru>t  in  (Jod  and  cahnly  asked  divine  approval  and 
direction. 

Those  who  were  advocating'  woman  suffrage  were  not 
united.  Some  of  them,  including  most  of  the  women 
pr()pafrandi>ts  who  came  to  Lansinir.  were  fearful  that  a 
measure  suhmittintr  the  (piestion  to  the  people  could  not 
pa^s  the  Leirislature  and  that  its  failure  would  prove  a 
setha<'k.  After  diseussiug  the  nmtter  with  Kepresenta- 
tivi'  Charles  Flowers,  a  veteran  partisan  of  the  cause, 
and  with  several  others.  1  decided  to  present  the  ques- 
tion. It  carried  nicely.  Later,  when  it  was  submitted 
for  jKjpular  consideration,  it  undoubtedly  carried  in  the 
State.  However,  the  li(pior  interests  succeeded  in  ob- 
scurinj;  and  invalidating  the  result.  Its  next  submis- 
sion was  in  the  spring,  when  the  country  vote  is  light  as 
compared  with  that  of  the  cities,  and  suffrage  was  then 
unquestionably  defeated. 

When  the  returns  of  the  vote  began  to  indicate  that 
the  measure  had  pissed  at  the  first  ])lebiscite,  those  op- 
posed held  back  the  reports  from  polling  precincts  that 
thev  controlled,  giving  the  impression  that  whatever  to- 


FOIJ  TIIK  LIFE  OF-^  MTCTTKJAX        2ftT 


tals  wore  iiPf(>s-;arv  to  a.-compli^h  tho  dofoat  of  tho 
wonion  would  !..■  supplird.  Tlicrf  wnc  simis  of  a 
sharp  practice  tliat  was  used  In-  the  vicious  clcmonts  to 
ol)tain  a  nioinciitary  cud.  Apparcnfk  the  oul.v  adc- 
quiitc  redress  for  such  is  an  aroused  pulilie  that  will 
fituillv  act  so  decisively  as  to  brook  no  resistance  or 
trickery. 

1  do  not  say  that  all  of  those  who  oppose  votes  for 
women  are  vicious,  hut  I  do  say  that  wherever  I  have 
heen  familiar  with  conditions,  the  mana^'ement  of  the 
campaipi  ajrainst  sutfra.^'e  has  heen  controlled  either 
al)ove  the  surface  or  helow  it  hy  those  who  are  inclined 
to  lawlessness  and  who  make  it  their  instinctive  busi- 
ness to  <i<rht  anythin*.'  that  tends  to  ini|)rove  the  public 
tone  or  widen  the  zone  of  influence  of  those  who  would 
be  most  likely,  in  the  nature  of  thin<rs,  to  endeavor  to 
cure  those  evils  that  are  (  atin":  cancerously  at  the  foun- 
dations of  the  human  family. 

Women  are  the  matrix  of  the  race.  They  occupy  a 
sphere  that  man,  a  mere  fertiliziufr  a^'ent,  never  enters. 
Consequaitly  woman  knows  instinctively  when  her  own 
is  imperiled.  Fundamentally  this  is  the  raison  d'rtre 
of  the  woman  movement.  All  talk  of  lilx'rty  and  eijual 
ity  is  incidental.  Nature,  always  operating  to  make 
life  dominant  over  death,  and  in  ways  often  most  ob- 
scure and  indirect  so  far  as  man's  vision  and  compre- 
hension are  concerned,  is  the  author  of  the  activity  that 
has  for  its  purpose  the  brinpinp  to  U^&r  of  the  powers 
of  woman  directly  apainst  the  jeopardy  of  her  children. 
The  tendency  may  be  delayed  or  misdirected  but  it 
cannot  be  defeated,  any  more  than  the  precession  of  the 
equinoxes  can  be  controlled  by  human  agencies. 

My  messajres  to  the  Legislature,  in  special  .sessions, 
are  a  true  guide  to  my  state  of  mind,  my  thought  proc- 


• 


288 


THE  IROX  TIUXTER 


f'sscs  and  cnnviotinns  at  that  timf.  T  had  not  yet  con- 
vin('('<l  myself  that  thoro  could  not  he  some  eomprnmise 
with  aleohoh  I  Iioped  that  if  there  was  any  ijood  in  it 
tliat  it  mifrht  he  separated  from  the  much  that  was  had, 
and  the  desirahh-  r^-tained  and  tlie  ohjeetionahh>  ro- 
jee'ed.  I  had  visions  of  state  eontrol  that  would  he 
more  snecessfnl  than  the  dispensary  r-xperienee  hv  the 
State  of  South  Carolina.  It  was  my  nehulous  hope  that 
the  whiskey  traffic  mifiht  he  eomph-teiy  taken  out  of 
trade  wherehy  man's  deireneraey  was  made  a  source  of 
profit.  It  was  a  passinfr  dream  in  which  I  saw  pure 
whiskey,  heers  and  wines  served  at  cost  in  temperate 
(piantities  in  clean  envirfiinient  to  those  who  mifrht  he 
cheered  hut  not  poisoned. 

But  I  was  nearinir  the  time  when  I  l)ecame  convinced 
that  life  and  alcohol  cannot  exist  to<rether  atiy  more 
rationally  than  life  and  death.  T  saw  the  constant 
strug^rle  of  nature  ajrainst  death  and  all  of  the  ajronci<'s 
of  decay;  the  finely  maintained  e<|uilil)r!nni  of  wild  ani- 
mal and  vefretahle  life;  the  self-pn.  ling  processes  of 
primeval  forests  and  many  of  the  visihie  efforts  of  the 
war  of  life  apiinst  death.  Because  of  the  limited  visual 
powers  of  man,  there  are  more  invisihle  activities  than 
those  that  we  can  see.  But  there  are  also  many  that  we 
are  .slow  to  see  hecause  we  do  not  wish  to  see.  So  I  saw 
in  the  world's  jrrowinj;  social  array  against  alcohol  sim- 
ply a  great  movement  of  life  against  death.  As  such  it 
will  succeed  in  spite  of  nian's  hlindness  and  opposition, 
just  hecause  of  the  world-old  truth  that  man  is  ever  the 
weak  proponent  and  (iod  is  forever  the  mighty  dispo- 
nent. 

Michigan  voted  in  favor  of  state-wide  prohihition  at 
the  election  of  November,  1016,  and  in  favor  of  woman 
.  aiTrage  in  lOlS. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

MY    PART   IN    THK    I'KESIDENTIAL    CAMPAIGN    OF    1912 

THE  spoond  year  of  my  sorvioo  as  Governor  was  a 
year  of  presidential  eatnpaifrii.  A  suecessor  to 
Mr.  Taft  was  to  he  seleeted.  Early  it  Ixvame  i\p- 
parent  that  there  was  j^Teat  dissatisfaction  with  Presi- 
dent Taft.  No  matter  what  merit  he  mi^'ht  have,  and 
forjretful  of  his  <:reat  jniblie  services  in  the  past,  it  was 
plain  that  a  majority  of  his  party  would  not  and  did  not 
approve  or  trnst  him  politically.  They  eonld  no  longer 
see  fjood  in  him  or  in  anything;  he  proposed.  Because 
it  was  a  Taft  proposition,  the  proposed  Treaty  of  Cana- 
dian Reciprocity,  a  measure  of  great  merit,  was  bitterly 
opposed.  1  was,  I  iliink,  the  only  governor  in  the 
United  States  who  supjx)rtt?d  that  treaty,  at  home  and  at 
Washington.  It  was  passed  with  ditficulty,  after  long 
hearings  ajid  delays  that  aided  in  perverting  the  Cana- 
dian view  and  supplying  fuel  for  its  subsequent  repudia- 
tion across  the  border. 

Always  in  jniblic  life  and  in  politics  I  have  clung  to 
certain  ideals  of  citizenship  and  its  responsibilities. 
Like  millions  of  others  I  have  looked  upon  Theodore 
l?(X>sevelt  as  personifying  most  nearly  these  mind  and 
heart  types.  He  was  human  and  made  errors,  but  he 
was  heartful  and  earnest,  courageous  and  honest.  He 
worked  at  the  job  of  bt'ing  a  citizen  when  with  another 
temperament  he  might  have  lK>en  a  loafer,  V)ecause  he 
never   had  to   work   for   bread,    that   great   industrial 

289 


2!t0 


TIIK   IKOX   IIl'NTER 


iiicciitivo.  Always  in-tivc  and  jiiviiiir  of  liimsclf,  >pon(l- 
iiiL'  Mii.l  iK-iiiir  ^p'nt.  hr-  lias  the  lii^licst  Lattinp  avorap«> 
(.f  i)nt)lic  service  in  tlie  modern  hi-^tory  of  the  nation. 
AikI  ;'s  sneh  tl,iiiir>  are  usually  interpreted  his  wcirk  has 
been  unselfish.  In  a  hi;:her  way  of  thou<rht  his  lalH>rs 
have  heen  the  es~eiiee  of  wnrtliy  selfisimess  for  social  and 
individual  we!f:iri-  iiicludinjr  himself. 

Fir-t   with   all   '^ 1  <'itizen-  eomes  the  jr<Mid  of  the 

nation  :  then  the  ^ro„d  of  those  ajreneies  that  eontrihute  to 
the  nation  ;  then  the  man :  Country,  party,  individual. 
I  cared  only  in  this  way.  It  seemed  to  me  that  the 
Kepuhlican  jtarty  ha.l  attracted  to  itself  the  frrcater  vol- 
ume of  genius  for  uc.vernment.  As  is  always  true  in  a 
successful  partv  the  had  entered  with  the  jX>><^.  Virtue 
in  partv  should  he  and  always  will  he  at  friction  with 
vice  inparty.  Those  who,  as  participants  in  or  agents 
for  intrenched  j)rivilege,  believe  in  government  by  the 
few  will  be  naturally  oi)posed  by  those  who  M'wvv  in 
government  by  all  for  all. 

Mr.  Taft  might  be  nominated  by  force,  but  he  would 
be    defeated.     The    midyear's    elections    foreshadowed 
that  certain  result.     ^Vhat  was  the  party  to  do  if  it 
would  achieve  the  success  within  itself  that  would  pre- 
serve  in   control   its  best  element,  and  continue  it   in 
governmental  power  and  direction  '     A  candidate  other 
than    Mr.    Taft    must    be    found.     This    thought    was 
one  common  to  many  earnest  minds.     The  field  to  select 
fnmi  was  not  large.     But  there  were  some  good,  earnest, 
courageous  public  men,  and  more  were  being  created 
out  of  an  atmosplu'i-e  growing  from  an  aroused  public 
conscience.     Of  these  the  first  and  greatest  and  clearest 
and  most  consistent  and  courageous  was  Theodore  Roose- 
velt.    His  own  idea,  as  he  bad  told  me  and  all  who 
talked  with  him,  was  to  be  r<-ady  to  serve  in  peace  or 


TKESi;  E.NTIAL  ("A.MJ'AI(1X  OF  1012      291 


war  at  any  tirao  his  countrv,  that  had  so  honored  and 
trusted  him,  demanded.  But  he  wnuhi  not  !)»•  a  can- 
didate, lie  must  he  drafted  and  the  eall  must  he  uu- 
mistakalih'. 

Xow  it  is  one  thin^  for  a  king  to  eall  and  another 
thing  for  a  people.  There  may  be-  ever  so  much  ma- 
terial for  a  ehorus,  but  it  is  always  seattered,  untrained 
and  undirected.  A  hig  Roosevelt  movement  began  all 
over  the  land.  He  was  unmoved  by  it.  In  fact  it  was 
so  intangible  as  to  be  difficult  of  measurement.  Xo  one 
man  or  men  started  it.  Rut  it  was  still  in  no  form  to 
carry  convictions  of  duty  and  sacrifice  to  Oyster  Bay. 

Alexander  Kevell  headed  the  Kmisevelt  movement  in 
Chicago.  Edwin  W.  Sims  was  associated  with  him. 
Mr.  vSims  was  from  Michigan.  Perhaps  that  is  why  he 
came  to  me. 

"  There  is  only  one  way  that  I  can  think  of  that  will 
formulate  this  Roosevelt  movement  .-o  that  it  will  com- 
pel him  to  be  a  candidate;  that  is  to  call  a  conference 
of  Republican  governors  and  {)ass  resolutions  urging 
Colonel  Koosevelt  to  come  out  and  do  his  duty." 

It  was  the  idea  of  Mr.  Sims.  It  appealed  to  me.  I 
signed  a  call  for  a  meeting  of  the  governors.  There 
were  not  many  Republican  governors,  only  nine  or  ten. 
The  States  had  fallen  like  l)ean-poles  before  the  anti- 
Taft  hurricane.  There  were  eight  governors  at  the 
meeting.  Seven  of  them  signed  the  call  eagerly.  The 
message  was  carried  to  Oyster  Bay.  Colonel  Roosevelt 
became  a  candidate.  The  steam-roller  national  con- 
vention in  Chicago  nominated  Taft.  Then  came  the 
revolt.  The  followers  of  Iux>sevelt  entered  upon  the 
formation  of  a  new  party.  This  I  opposed.  At  the 
first  meeting  in  Michigan  T  succeeded  in  preventing 
the  formation  of  a  progressive  party.     There  was  no 


I  ' 


292 


THE  IRON  nUXTER 


profiroi^sive  prinoiplo  that  I  did  not  and  do  not  believe 
ill  and  advocate.     The  thinp  was  to  decide  what  instru- 
nu'iitality  would  most  (luickly  secure  the  adoption  and 
application  of  progressive  reforms  in  government.     I 
am  firmly  convinced  that  the  great  majority  of  the  Re- 
puhli'-an  parfv  was  progressive  and  is  so  to-day.     The 
onlv  tiiinir  to  "do  as  I  saw  it,  was  to  remain  in  the  party 
and  wrest  control  from  the  leaders  who  were  abusing  it. 
This   had   already  been  done   in   Michigan  and  other 
States,  and  it  seemed  particularly  unwise  to  drs.-rt  and 
leave  behind  all  the  good  work  that  had  ben  (bne  up  to 
date.     S,\tTering  frou)  a  broken  foot,  I  had  managed 
to  attend  the  Lansing  me<>ting,  though  on  crutches.     An 
inflammation  i.i  the  injured  member  prevent(>d  me  from 
attending   tin-   i-onvention    at    Jackson    where    Senator 
;)ixon,  of  .Montana,  swept  men  off  their  feet  who  had 
promised   me   not  to  secede,   and   the   Progressives   lu 
Michigan  were  oru'anized. 

Roosevelt.  Taft  and  Wilson  ran.      I  made  it  plain 
that  I  would  remain  in  the  Republican  party  and  would 
vote  for  Roos(>velt  as  a  liepublican.  and  I  advised  other 
Republicans  to  do  the  sam(^      I  was  at  Deerfoot  Lodge 
when   I  got  the  n.'ws  that  Oolone!  Ttoosc'velt  was  shot. 
In  a  flash  I  reviewed  the  early  part  I  had  i)layed  in 
getting  him  into  the  tight.     A  decision  to  go  and  help 
him  now  that  he  was  hors  du  rurnlmt  was  acted  upon  at 
once.      I   tendered  my   s.Tvices   and   asked   to  be  sent 
wherever  the  committee  had  ditiiculty  in  getting  or  keep- 
ing speakers.     After  several  speeches  in  Chicago,  St. 
Ixniis  and  other  places  in  Missouri,  I  was  sent  to  Okla- 
homa.    INfv  progress  in  Oklahoma  was  such  that  Wil- 
liam Jennings  Bryan  was  sent  to  follow  me.     I  elosed 
the  campaign  in  Indiana,  too  far  away  to  enable  me  to 
reach  Sault  Ste.  Marie  in  time  to  vote. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 


OFF  FOR  MAPACASrAR.  ARIA  AM)  AFRirA  FOR  A  LONO  TO^R 
I.\    TIIK    I  XrsrAI.    iAKTS    OF    THE    EARTH 


M 


\  fi-rm  of  office  as  Governor  was  noarinj;  a 
cImso.  There  had  heen  a  fi^ht  for  some  piod 
eaiKxe  every  day  and  I  had  enjoyed  every  mo- 
ment of  it.  Ir  was  tonehinir  to  me  to  witness  the  evi- 
dence of  regard  so  |.hiiiily  shown  hy  jrond  men  of  all 
parties.  It  made  me  forj^et  there  had  U-vu  any  sneh 
tiling'  as  opposition  or  hitterness.  1  felt  that  I  was 
over-appreciated  and  too  well  paid.  The  Fniversitv  of 
Michigan  and  Olivet  (^ollege  and  also  Alma  ColIege,'had 
conferred  npon  me  the  honorary  dcirree  of  Doctor  of 
Laws.  I  was  the  first  irovernor  of  Michigan  to  be  thus 
honored;  not  the  first  to  deserve  bnt  the  first  to  receive. 
Olivet  and  Alma  are  sph-ndid  denominational  colleges. 
Their  recognition  of  me  could  not  hv  interpreted  as  po- 
litical by  my  most  bitter  enemy. 

At  the  end  I  was  given  a  dinner  at  Hotel  Downey, 
Lansing.  Republicans,  Progressives,  Swialists  and 
Democrats  came  to  do  me  honor.  It  was  a  thank  God 
thing  and  I  was  overcome.  The  Democratic  Governor 
incoming  was  present  and  said  he  would  model  bis  ad- 
ministration after  mine.  I  had  inducted  him  into  of- 
fice with  all  kindness,  respect  and  assistance.  The 
speeches  at  the  dinner  were  of  such  graciousness  as  few 
men  live  to  hear.  Reviewing  my  work  as  Governor, 
one  of  the  great  dailies  of  Michigan  said  editorially: 
"  Throughout  its  course,  the  Osborn  administration 

293 


204 


THK  IRON  IlI'NTER 


has  brcn  froo  from  the  touoli  <«f  srandal.  To  Ix'  sure  it 
has  not  been  uiitrouhhd.  but  those  troubk's  have  boon 
of  the  ch-an  sort,  in  which  ini'!i  could  oppose  each  other 
with  honest  ditTereiices  <»f  opinion  and  without  >hanie. 
Thev  have  been  storms  rather  than  enibarrassinents. 
Hut  the  fact  is  the  troubh-s  of  liis  administration  have 
been  brief  in  duration  and  inc<»nseipu'ntial  in  effect 
and  may  Im-  easily  forjrotten. 

"  Some  of  the  thinjrs  Ciovornor  Os>)orn  set  out  to  do 
two  years  ajro  have  been  accomplislie<l.  In  other  thin;rs 
disappointment  has  be<Mi  his  portion.  But  in  success 
or  disap|)oiiitm<'nt.  he  displayed  in  all  his  official  acts 
and  life  a  s])irit  which  ma(h'  the  fortune  of  the  hour 
seem  a  matter  of  small  moment,  ilo  n»et  his  every  de- 
feat with  an  attitude  that  commanded  the  admiration 
which  usually  i  the  triluite  to  success  alone.  In 
friendly  or  in  hostile  sympathy  with  his  administration 
as  one  may  be.  yet  the  name  of  Osborn  cannot  be  de- 
nied place  beside  that  of  Blair,  the  war  (lovernor,  and 
of  Pinjiree,  the  first  insurjient,  in  the  roll  of  Michigan 
Governors. 

"  Reflect  now  on  the  two  years  of  Osborn's  povernor- 
ship.  and  consider  not  only  the  immediate  results  of 
it,  but  the  impulse  it  has  given  to  a  finer,  stronger  con- 
ception of  government  by  the  people  of  this  State  of 
ours.  The  injury  that  Osborn  has  done  is  solely  to 
Chase  S.  Osborn's  political  aspirations  —  if  any  he  has. 
The  good  that  Chase  S.  Osborn  has  wrought  is  the  in- 
alienable possession  of  the  State." 

The  House  of  Representatives  passed  resolutions  offi- 
cially commending  my  work. 

My  brief  exaugural  address  was  well  received  by  the 
Legislature  and  by  the  public.     1  was  deeply  content. 


A  LONG  TOUR  OF  TUE  WORLD 


295 


There  was  much  I  wished  to  do.  T  had  not  finished 
the  earth  in  travel  and  study.  Tliere  renuiiiied  jM)r- 
♦•ons  of  Africa  and  all  of  Madapasear.  :My  wife  and 
'  left  at  once  for  the  Kast  and  across  the  seas.  We 
stopped  en  route  in  Washinj,n<.n,  where  I  addressed  the 
.Michigan  Society,  upon  the  invitation  of  Jiidire  ^font- 
iromery.  with  whom  I  had  sometime  clashed,  hut  who  is 
so  bijr  that  he  has  forfrottcn  it  and  forgiven  me.  At 
the  State  Department  I  could  pet  almost  no  information 
about  Madagascar.  This  made  me  decide  to  proceed 
to  F'rance.  Madagascar  is  a  French  Colony.  France 
took  possession  of  it  one  year  before  the  L'liited  States 
ac(|uired  the  Philippines.  It  furnishes  a  splendid  of)- 
portunity  of  comparing  the  methods  and  colonial  poten- 
tiality of  the  two  nations. 

We  took  passage  on  the  French  liner  La  Tournine. 
with  the  same  captain  who  had  sent  the  Titanic  a  wire- 
less warning  of  the  iceberg,  that  was  unheeded. 

Either  at  the  wharf  at  Havre,  or  on  the  train  Mween 
there  and  Paris,  our  trunks  and  bags  were  broken  into 
and  robbed.  I  mention  this  iK'cause  we  have  only  suf- 
fered from  such  depredations  while  traveling  in  France, 
Italy  and  Spain. 

One  gets  the  idea  that  the  average  of  honesty  is  low 
among  the  European  Latin.^.  I  say  European  Latins 
because  we  have  found  the  South  American  Latin  peo- 
ples as  honest  as  any  others  in  the  world.  We  have 
been  warned  in  every  South  American  country  to  be- 
ware of  thieves  while  traveling,  just  as  the  American 
traveling  public  encounters  "'  beware  "  signs  in  depots 
and  hotels,  at  home  and  on  ocean  steamers.  In  thou- 
sands of  miles  of  travel  in  South  America  I  have  never 
lost  an  article,  and  I  grew  to  be  less  watchful  there 
than  in  most  countries.     Friends  living  in  South  Amer- 


L>or, 


TlIK  IKON   IirXTKR 


ica  uiiif..rml.v  t.H  uu-  that  petty  larcciiv  ami  sn.-ak  tliicv- 
iii;:  an-  uiK-oiiiiiinri  there,  wliicli  a('<-ords  with  my  ex- 

|)(Tieii('e. 

Ainl»as^a.lnr  Ilerri.-k  was  very  kind  to  us  in  Parn. 
II. •  saw  that  I  lia<i  access  to  all  otHcial  sources  of  in- 
forniatinii.  I  was  also  permitted  a  more  intimate 
knowhdjre  of  Dr.  Alfred  (Jrandidier,  the  fanioiH  hiolo- 
jrist,  and  his  work,  (irandidier  is  an  authority  upon 
nearlv  everv  l.raneh  of  scientitic  kiiowledire  pertainiuf,' 
to  Maiia^MsVar.  Wlu-n  he  completes  the  volumes  he  ia 
writinjr  they  will  form  an  exhaustive  treatise  ujMni  that 
big  and  interestintr  island. 

We  sailed  from   Mar-eilles  on  a  stormy  day.     The 
Mediterranean  was  the  ro\ii:hest  I  had  ever  seen  it  and 
it  ^rrcw  worse.     OtV  Crete  w<'  nearly  foundered.     Tho 
storm  contiinied  for  four  days.      Kor  two  days  it  was  a 
hurricane   and   during'  thirty-six   hours  our  ship   ju.st 
head.'d  into  it,  and  the  loi:  did  imt  record  a  single  knot 
of  progress.      Mrs.  ()^l)orn  remained  in  our  staterwm 
k'cause  it  was  too  roufrh  to  dress.     She  was  compelled 
to  live  in  the  upper  berth  on  account  of  the  depth  of 
water  in  the  room.     Other  women  were  hysterical,  and 
men  wen-  down  on  their  knees  in  prayer,  just  as  they 
always  r\ish  ti)  Cod  in  danirer  and  hel[)lessness  and  so 
often  forjret  Him  at  other  times.      No  one  was  permitted 
on  deck.      Even  the  captain  wruns:  his  hands.     lie  had 
ordered  me  bel.)w  a  uund)er  of  times.     Finally  learning 
that  I  was  workinii  with  the  deck  hands  helping  to  rig 
the  auxiliary  steering  gear  and  doing  other  things,  he 
made  me  a  memlx'r  of  the  crew.     During  all  of  it  my 
brave  wife  was  as  calnr  as  could  be,  and  only  asked  me 
to  tell  her  and  give  her  enough  time  to  put  on  a  life 
j.-rv?server.   if  it  became  necessary.     Many  passengers, 
botli  women  and  men,  wore  life  belts  for  two  days. 


A  LONG  TOFR  OF  THE  WORLD   297 


Wf  had  scoii  trviiifi  stnriiH  in  fh«'  ('ay)c  irorii  rcfjioii, 
in  thf  China  Sea.  in  ihf  North  Athintic  and  Xorth  Pa- 
cific and  in  Biscay  and  fhc  [ndian  Ocean,  hut  nothing 
worse  than  this.  The  fiMrful  thinjr  on  fhc  Mediter- 
ranean in  a  had  jrale  is  hicl<  of  sea  nMun.  which  is  the 
^reaf  menace  a^o  on  Lake  Superior  and  the  othi'r  ^rcat 
hikes  of  the  worhi.  I  have  seen  Lake  Tificaca  so  storm- 
swepr  that  hundreds  of  l)alsas  were  (h-stroyed,  Fancv  a 
storm  on  the  roof  of  the  worhl  in  a  hike  more  than  two 
mih's  up  in  the  chtuds.  One  really  feels  as  if  he  might 
he  washed  into  illimitahle  space. 

It  was  our  fourth  trip  to  Kirypt,  hut  ncitlier  my  wife 
nor  myself  had  seen  the  Sahara  a<  if  must  Ix'  seen  to 
Ix'  com{)rehended.  In  order  to  do  so  I  orj:anizcd  a  cara- 
van for  the  purpose  of  journeyiiifr  over  the  san<ls  that 
are  finer  than  when  they  rejxised,  unm<tved.  on  the  vast 
floor  of  the  ancient  (K-ean  that  once  existed  over  the 
Hc(hiuin  domain.  We  planned  to  go  some  hiindreda 
miles  auvi  also  visit  the  Kayoum  Oasis,  either  outward 
IxMind  or  u[K)n  our  return. 

We  have  the  slides  to  contend  with  at  the  Panama 
Canal.  At  the  Suez,  dredges  are  kept  at  work  con- 
stantly by  the  lM>iling,  slipping,  flowing  (M)/e  that  conies 
in  at  the  bottom  and  sides.  Compared  with  the  Panama 
Canal  the  Suez  is  not  much  of  an  engineering  j)roduct; 
nor  when  compared  with  the  St.  ifary's  Falls  locks,  at 
Sault  Ste.  ifarie,  ^lichigati.  where  the  lock  problem 
was  solved  for  Panama  and  for  the  world. 


riTAPTF.R  XXXVTI 

suMK    HKFF.RKN-.Ks     K.    I.I  UMA,    (  KYI.oN.    rorHIX-rniN'A, 
n   I.KISTAN,     I'HiSI.V 

IN"  Mii<l!ii::i<car  I  wsh  made  an  lioiiorarv  nioTnl>rr  of 
tlu-  A.M.I.inir  Malira.-lio.  TIht.'  an«  only  half  a 
,loz..ii  li()M..rary  iiumuIxts,  iii.-lndluir  tlio  President 

of  Franee. 

The  French  anthnrifiex  jeahtusly  piard  the  rare  fos- 
sils that  have  heen  fmmd  in  Madaira>.Mr.  where  s,,  mnrh 
,,f  the  Ihira  and  fauna,  aneient  and  in.Hh'rn,  lHh)n,i:s 
iihiiie  to  Ma(hi.i:a-<*ar. 

'I'hev  were  very  eourteous  to  me.  I  was  hieky 
rnonirh  to  diseov.-r  a  perfect  specimen  of  the  e^r  of  the 
.Kpvornis  Titans,  the  irreatest  of  the  extinct  prodi.trious 
hinis,  and  was  permitted  to  rem..ve  it  from  the  e<.nntry 
i„  order  that  I  mi-ht  pivs.nt  it  to  the  Fniversity  of 
Miehifran.  Also  I  ohtained  hones  of  the  .Epyomis, 
tlvinjr  and  .iuiphihious  lemnrs.  and  a  .-omplete  skeh'ton 
(.if  the  pipny  hipjiopotamus,  a  rare  fossih  I  shot  a 
hirpo  modorn  hippo  in  Africa  to  contrast  tlie  lillipntian 
with.  Thi'y  now  fornt  a  strikiiij;  contrast  in  the  nni- 
senni  of  the  Fnivi-rsity  of  Michij;an. 

The  roU)nial  jreoloiri^t  and  ininerahifrist  aided  ine  in 
ohtaininjr  a  comph'te  collection  of  the  minerals  and 
rocks  of  Madajrascar  for  the  iliohipm  Collejre  of  Mines. 
Enjjlish  missionaries  have  done  a  i)rais(>wort]iy  work 
in  Madagascar.  They  went  there  nearly  a  hundred 
years  ago.     Now  out  of  a  population  of  between  tlireo 

298 


RrUMA.  CKYI.ON.  ((KniNTnTXA      JO** 


niifl   four  niillioriH.  tlicrr  nrr  uwrv  than   five  Imnclrrd 
flioiHjirui  Piin>llr<l  Clirisfijiii-i. 

At  Fort  Diiiipiiiii  wo  fdiiiid  .-iii  Arnoriciin  Swodish 
f.nflioniii  mission  osfjil.Iisliinriit  uf  ••licrfnl.  wholcsMnif, 
-olf-siicriticiiijr  niissiitiiiirios  iloini;  (jno  work.  N..  otio 
'•"uld  hiivo  Imtm  cxtoiidcd  iimrp  coiisirlfniiinn  iniii  kiiid- 
tirsH  tluiii  wo  wore  -rivtii  l.y  all  tlio  nii'sicnario^.  'I'lio 
most  timisiial  ('.)ii^ul  I'orfor,  Uritish  otJicial  npr.-.rifa- 
.  tivo,  stationod  at  Aiitaiiaiiai  ivo.  cniild  not  liavo  dmi)- 
more  for  liis  Kin^'  than  hi'  and  liis  charmin;:  famil.v 
di<l  for  us. 

Tho  I'nitod  States  CmuhiI  tn  Mada;ras<-ar.  a  hidi- 
;;rado  Nc^to,  Mr.  .lairi.s  C.  ('arfrr,  at  Tamatavo.  was 
fhon^'htful.  polito  and  .rli.-iint.  'I'ho  color  lino  is  not 
drawn  otHoially  or  sooiaily  and  Vankoo  Consul  ( "artor 
was  haviiifj  the  fimo  of  his  life. 

Madapisciir  is  aj)art  from  routes  of  <-ommon  travel. 
It  is  never  visited  hv  the  tourist  class  and  has  not  heen 
spoiled.  I  am  referrin-;  to  .Mada;:ascar  very  hriefly 
here  because  I  am  at  work  upon  a  more  elahorate  manu- 
script concorniiifr  it,  which  1  hope  to  complete  for  pul)- 
iication. 

In  ("eyion  we  visited  tlie  Anuradhpura  district  where 
extensive  ruins  datinir  from  the  golden  days  of 
Buddhism  are  Ix-in^  uncoveretl  and  preserved.  It  i-;  a 
fever  stricken  region.  Not  unlikely  this  caused  the 
decay  of  the  stronjr  peoples  that  compet«'d  successfully 
in  their  time  in  all  the  activities  of  the  kiiowti  world. 
They  were  at  flieir  hest  ahout  ;!()0  n.  <•.  One  has  onlv 
to  go  to  Ceylon  and  read  tlie  Raniayana  to  have  both 
regard  and  resjicct  for  the  ancient  Cin^'alese. 

We  reached  Burma  in  time  to  participate  in  the  hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  the  arrival  of  the  American  Baj)- 
tist  missionary  Adoniram  .ludson.     He  really  o{K.'ned 


300 


THE  IKON  HUNTEIl 


Burma.  Tho  Hritish  followed,  as  tliin-  have  boon  often 
fniided  In-  the  blazed  trails  made  in  remote  portions  of 
the  world  by  Ameri<-an  missionaries. 

No  river  trij)  in  the  world  surpasses  in  interest  that 
of  the  Irawaddy.  When  we  were  at  Bhamo  the  Tibe- 
tans, Chinese  and  Enj^lish  wore  guardinfr  their  frontier 
and  freijuent  clashes  eame. 

The  most  j.roduetive  ruby  mines  in  the  world  are 
alonjr  the  Irawaddy.  American  drillers  have  developed 
rich  oil  fields  just  as  they  have  done  at  I5aku.  Man- 
dalay  had  the  |)lafrue  and  three  hundred  a  day  were 
dying  from  it  when  we  were  there. 

Fascinatinir  indeed  is  Old  Pajran.  once  the  mightiest 
scat  of  IJuddhism  and  still  slewing  eight  thousand  pa- 
godas and  dagobas.  When  (lenghiz  Khan  aj.peared  be- 
fore it  in  the  thirteenth  century,  there  were  standing 
thirteen  thou>and  tenii)les  (.f  liuddha.  The  King  tore 
down  live  tht.usand  to  obtain  material  for  use  in 
strengthening  his  fortitications.  The  (Ireat  Khan  cap- 
ture(i  and  sacked  the  city  despite  all  this  and  a  bravo 
defense. 

Our  English  word  "pagan"  comes  from  b«^re  just 
as  our  word  "  meander  '*  is  from  the  tortuous  river  that 
laves  the  ruined  foimdation  of  Diana's  ancient  Ephesus. 
Tn  Siam  we  found  an  American,  dens  Westengaard, 
of  Chicago,  living  in  a  ]ialace  as  adviser  to  the  King, 
and  ranking  only  next  below  the  sacred  white  elephant. 
The  story  of  Westengaard  and  his  splendid  work  in 
8iam,  and  bis  potential  life  throughout  is  dramatic  and 
exhausts  the  imagination.  lie  is  indeed  a  creditable 
American. 

Cochin-Cliina,  French  China,  is  well  administered. 
Saigon  is  a  miniature  Paris.  The  French  manage  their 
colonies  with  svTupathy,  understanding,  real  interest  and 


BURMA,  CEYI.OX,  COrHIXCIirXA     301 


strive  for  nnallovod  justico.  Tho  colonial  work  of  the 
highest  and  most  nnsclfisli  character  in  the  world  is  that 
done  by  our  country  in  the  Philippines.  Next  cornea 
France. 

In  Persia  we  encountered  the  failure  of  Morgan 
Shuster.  If  ho  had  In-en  perm-'tted  to  carry  out  his 
plans.  Shuster  niifrht  have  done  wonders  for  Persia. 
But  it  was  not  in  the  cards.  Enpland  and  Russia  were 
as  determined  upon  the  ravishment  of  Persia  as  the 
latter  has  l)c«'n  of  Turkestan,  and  the  former  of  India. 
^Ir.  Shuster's  absolute  tactlessness,  and  complete  failure 
to  prasp  the  situation,  only  hastened  the  clenching  of 
the  iron  hands. 

All  of  the  countries  engaged  in  the  great  European 
holocaust  have  at  one  time  or  another  desixiiled  and  op- 
})ressed  weaker  peoples  of  th(>  world.  One  of  the  most 
guilty  is  Belgium.  Iler  Congo  brutalities  curdled  the 
blood  of  all  who  knew  them.  Do  nations  reap  as  they 
sow^     T.ike  individuals?     I  think  so. 

In  Turkestan  and  throughout  the  "  sealed  dominions 
of  the  ( V.ar  "  we  found,  as  all  must  find  who  go  or  read, 
much  to  engross  one  and  arouse  conjecture  and  imagina- 
tive thought.  Old  Maracanda  and  Merv,  and  the  val- 
ley of  the  (iranicus,  where  Clitus  saved  Alexander's 
life,  only  to  be  stabbed  to  death  by  him  in  a  drunken 
fit  a  short  time  afterwards.  Alexander  did  not  die  of 
a  broken  heart  because  of  no  more  worlds  to  conquer. 
There  were  plenty.  lie  died  of  remorse,  at  thirty-three, 
b<'cause  he  had,  while  drunk,  murdered  his  favorite 
general  and  l)est  beloved  friend  Clitus,  to  whom  he  owed 
his  life.  There  is  much  evidence  that  in  a  fit  of  sorrow 
over  his  crime  he  committed  suicide.  Xo.  Alexander 
did  not  die  for  want  of  worlds  to  master.  lie  died  be- 
cause he  failed  to  contjuer  himself. 


302 


THE   IKON    IirXTKU 


Tlic  couMtrv  is  bleuk  along  the  ]»crso-Turkcstan 
fn>iititi  ami  iiiueL  of  it  a  <k'.scrt.  At  uascs  there  were 
nomadic  pcoph's,  with  home-woven,  eamel's-hair  tents 
and  irariiK  iits,  and  many  camels,  slu-ep.  jroats  and  asses, 

.Most  of  the  shore  line  of  the  Aral  and  Caspian  Sea 
is  forl.iddinjr.  frray  and  ashen  as  death.  Baku  is  a 
busy,  hut  not  an  attraetive  eity.  Kra-uovodsk,  Enzeli 
and  Resht  are  as  nearly  im])ossible  as  human  hives  can 
be.  liesht  is  a  disease-breedinjr  niudhole.  eonsiderably 
below  the  level  of  the  ('as])ian.  Kiva  and  Bokhara  are 
just  as  they  were  in  I^iblieal  times. 

Onee  in  Transeaucasia  all  is  ditTerent.  The  val- 
leys eoii'ain  a  people  that  have  spirit.  Kus-^ia  is  huild- 
inir  throuirhimt  with  unusual  aetivity,  an.l  th'-  work  is 
done  to  last.  Just  as  much  life  as  in  the  most  exoitiuj; 
boom  days  of  Oklahoma,  and  in  addition  everythinjr  is 
done  with  a  view  to  jwrmaiHiicy. 

Tashkent,  in  Turkestan,  is  (piite  a  modern  eity.  Ti- 
His  in  Transcaucasia,  is  much  more  so.  Between  them 
the  si)ace  is  untiiiished.  At  (Jeok  Tep>e.  where  Sko- 
beletf  captured  the  beards  of  the  prophet,  horsetail  battle 
flairs  mark  the  final  eompiest. 

In  Siberia  there  is  a  trreat  development  froinjr  on.  In 
numy  ways  SilH'ria  is  the  hoj)e  of  Russia.  Men  and 
women  of  indeiMMident  thought  and  courage  were  exiled 
there.  Often  when  their  term  of  exile  had  tinislied  they 
remained  in  their  new  abode,  (leorge  Kennan's  picture 
of  Siberia  is  unjust,  unkind  and  untrue.  I  have  been 
three  times  across  the  renuirkable  donnun  that  the  robber 
Yennak  gave  to  his  Czar,  and  have  tried  to  know  Si- 
beria fairly.  It  is  not  as  cold  as  Saskatchewan  either 
in  sununer  or  winter,  and  always  they  raise  more  wheat 
thiiu  the  railroad  can  hatd.  Irkutsk  is  really  the  lit- 
erarv  ami  modern  art  center  of  Russia,  because  toler- 


BURMA,  CEYLOX,  COC'HIXCnTXA     303 

ance  in  Russia  for  the  humanities  first  began  there- 
abouts. 

Siberian  and  Russian  towns  generally  are  not  over- 
churched.  They  are  ehissificd  priietically  as  one  ehureh, 
two  ohurcfi  and  three  eliurch  towns  and  so  on.  Tf  a 
coninuinity  ean  support  one  ehureh  that  is  all  it  is 
permitted,  until  it  prows  to  a  |K)int  where,  without  preat 
ditfieulty,  it  ean  support  two.  T  am  in^-Iined  to  think 
that  religion  in  Russia  is  h'ss  an  economic  burden  than 
in  any  other  country  in  the  world.  There  seems  to  be  a 
gradual  rapprochement  of  the  Greek  and  f:pisc()pal 
churches.  Their  amai/xanuition  would  Ix-  a  good  thing 
for  them  arid  for  the  world  no  doubt. 

It  was  the  early  {.art  of  the  year  1014.  Every wliere 
we  saw  Russian  soldiers  mi^ving  towards  the  Austrian 
and  German  l)orders.  There  is  an  old  Rengali  saving 
that  when  soldiers  are  on  the  move  watch  for  trouble. 
We  had  been  away  froin  n(n\>^)ai)ers  for  manv  weeks. 
Xevertheless  T  concluded  that  war  was  going  on  or 
about  to  start.  In  a  few  weeks  it  burst  on  Europe  like 
an  elemental  demon,  leading  hosts  of  vampires  and 
furies. 

Rabindranatli  Tagore,  of  whom  we  saw  much  and 
delightfully  while  in  Calcutta,  had  in  conversation  pre- 
dicted, like  a  prophet  of  old,  that  the  world  would 
quake  with  wholesale  murder  and  India  would  bo 
avenged.  He  could  not  have  dreamed  it  would  be  so 
soon. 

I  was  in  his  home  when  the  money  of  the  Xobel 
prize  for  literature  was  handed  to  him.  He  cared 
deeply  for  the  generous  recognition  of  the  East  by  the 
West,  but  there  is  no  East  or  West  in  the  world  of  love 
and  art.  But  he  cared  most  l)ecause  he  could  further 
endow  his  boys'  sc1k)o1  at  Bolpur.  where  he  is  traininir 


304 


THE  IRON  HUNTER 


younp  mon  who  will  carry  on  the  droam  of  his  life. 
That  is  the  restoration  of  the  pure  ancient  Brahmanisra, 
the  first  monotheistic  religion  the  world  knows  anything 
about.  It  has  degenerated  into  a  depraved  animistic 
Hinduism. 

To  call  Tagore  a  Hindu,  as  is  commonly  done,  is  to 
call  Rergson  a  disciple  of  Nietzsche. 

Through  home  missionary  organizations  called 
Brahmo  Samaj,  they  are  endeavoring  to  convert  the  bull 
kissing  Hindus.  _ 

I  told  Tagore  what  he  was  teaching  is  really  Christian- 
ity. He  agreed  with  me,  but  added  that  it  was  better 
policy  to  name  it  Neo-Brahmanism. 

It  is  the  spiritual  hope  of  India. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 


I  DISCOVER  ANOTHER  GREAT  IRON  ORE  RANGE  THAT  WILL 
SOME  DAY  HELP  TO  SUPPLY  THE  WORLD 

WHILE  following  a  Sakalava  native  trail  in 
Madagascar,  just  like  a  Kaffir  path  in  Africa, 
I  came  to  a  stretch  where  the  dust  of  the  path 
was  red.  Searching  on  either  side  I  found  bowlders  of 
hematite  iron  Oio.  These  I  traced  to  a  ridge  of  which 
they  were  the  talus.  I  traced  this  hogback  for  forty 
miles  and  came  to  neither  end.  In  many  places  along 
it  I  found  rich  iron  ore. 

Specimens  I  procured  showed  a  metallic  iron  con- 
tent of  sixty-four  per  cent,  and  nine-thousandths  of  one 
per  cent,  of  phosphorus.  The  analyses  were  made  by 
a  chemist  in  the  lalx)ratory  of  one  of  the  great  iron  mines 
of  Lake  Superior. 

It  is  a  new  range  of  iron  ore  that  has  never  been  seen 
to  be  recognized  by  any  other  than  myself.  There  it 
lies  to  supply  mankind  when  busier  and  nearer  deposits 
are  exhausted.  It  is  located  almost  as  conveniently  to 
the  markets  of  the  world  as  the  Chilian  deposits,  back 
of  Co(iuiml)o,  that  !Mr.  Schwab  is  developing,  and  per- 
haps more  so  than  the  Minas  Geraes  district  of  Brazil, 
where  American  capital  is  interested. 

This  new  range  is  in  a  country  where  the  government 

is  stable  and  just,  and  taxation  is  low.     There  is  an 

unlimited  supply  of  native,  low-cost  lalxir.     At  present 

the  lands  are  wild;  that  is  thcv  are  owned  by  the  gov- 

305 


300 


THK  IKON  HUNTER 


eminent  and  inav  l)o  Ixniplit  for  a  few  rents  an  aero. 

I  foci  that  I  am  quite  within  the  limits  cf  reason  when 
I  state  that  this  new  iron  range  is  likely  to  produce 
as  nnu'h  high  grade  liessemer  ore  as  some  of  the  world's 
greatest  iron  regions.  I  am  making  further  investiga- 
tions. After  eomph'tiug  this  work  I  shall  inform  the 
world  of  the  l<K'ation  of  this  discovery. 

It  g<.e.s  to  prove  further  the  statement  of  Professor  C. 
K.  Leith,  of  the  University  (.f  Wi.secmsin,  made  in  his 
paper  on  the  "  Conservation  of  Iron  Ore,"  at  the  New 
Y..rk  meeting,  Fehruary,  101(5,  of  the  American  Insti- 
tute of  Mining  Engineers,  to  the  effect  that  there  is  no 
danger  of  immediate  exhausticm  of  the  iron  ore  restTvea 

of  the  world.  . 

When  the  late  James  .1.  Hill  was  trading  on  his  Min- 
nesota iron  lands,  he  was  (pioted  as  making  a  statement 
that  the  iron  ore  of  the  world  w«.uld  be  exhausted  in 
twenty  vears.  It  caused  much  comment.  Mr.  Hill  de- 
nied making  the  statement.  It  hulled  the  iron  ore  land 
market  for  a  time,  and  increased  the  standard  of  mea.s- 
urement  of  values  of  iron  ore  in  the  ground  which  had 
been  entirelv  too  low.  It  was  during  the  period  of  low 
values  and  restricted  demand  that  :Mr.  Carnegie  and  ^Ir. 
Rockefeller  secured  their  great  Lake  Superior  holdings. 


CHAPTER  XXXTX 

MANY  PKOPLK  OF  Ml«   lll.i.VN   Ati.MN   I  l{<iK  ME  TO  TAKK  VP 
TIIK   (iONKALON    K01{    BKTIKK   THINMiS   IN   TIIK   STATK 

WK  had  Ik'cii  in  the  almost  unknown  world  for 
upwards  of  two  years.     :Mncli  of  the  time  wo 
were  Innond  reaeli  of  eivilized  eomnnmioa- 
tion.     Some  of  the  tinu-  T  was  where  no  white  man  had 
trodden  hefore.     Now  in  the  spriiifr  of  1014  we  were 
entering  the  alive  world  again.     At  Haku  on  the  Cas- 
pian Sea  I  reoeived  oahlegrams  from  several  eitizens 
of  Michigan  asking  me  to  Ik-  again  a  candidate  for  Gov- 
ernor of  :Michigan.     When  I  arrived  at  Paris  on  the 
wav  home  I  found  a  mass  of  cahlegrams  and  letters 
asking  me  to  make  the  race.     It  was  all  much  opposed 
to  my   inclination.     Nothing  except   a  sense  of  diity 
could  influence  me  to  consent.     I  was  poisoned  with 
malaria  and  had  been  bitten  by  the  tsetse  flics  and  was 
not  in  good  health.     That  I  should  make  the  matter 
one  demanding  full  and  very  earnest  consideration  was 
the  advice  given  to  mo  by  Ambassador  Herrick.     Ho 
was  the   first  American   I  had  seen   in  more  than  a 
year.     He  said  I  owed  it  to  my  State  and  to  the  party 
to  enter  the  contest. 

In  Paris  at  the  time  were  several  prominent  Michigan 
men  for  whose  character  and  judgment  I  had  great  re- 
spect. They  repeatedly  urged  me  .to  be  a  candidate 
as  a  matter  of  duty.  On  the  way  across  the  Atlantic 
on  the  Imperator,  I  discussed  the  details  of  the  situa- 

307 


;jos  Till'-  HiO-^'   niNTKR 

,i.„.  s..v..ral   ,i.n..   wi.h  .1.   Sl..nt    K.ss..t.     Ho  .a.  a 

a"stan.l,.a,t.r-'an.llaM-inM.r,..nt         Hut  I  f-m 
l.i.n  ulwavs  v.tv  Lit:  an.l  p-n.-r-MH  ••lul  ^'rac.ous  in  h.s 

:;::..nal  ;i..ws  a„.l  .tar..,n..nts.      I ^  to  the  w.     arc- 

;,f  tl...  prt.v  in  tlM.  nation  !..■  ur^:-.!  U  as  n.y  dutN  t.» 

b<'c<m»('  a  canditlatf.  •  i    a    *  l  ,...m.UI 

V.TV  .-l.arlv  in  n.v  niind  was  tl.o  w.sl.  that  1  ^^.ml(l 
„„t  lind  .-on.iitiun.  su.-h  as  t..  fom-  nic  to  cnfr  th. 
.' .nt.-<t.  This  wa>  n,v  stat.  of  f.-Hn.'  wh.n  1  huuh-d 
at  N..W  York.  KMually  ph.in  was  thr  u-tc.rm.natn.n  on 
„,v  part  to  do  .nv  duty  if  1  nmld  cm..-  to  s...  ,t  cdearh. 
a.id  to  .-otn.'  to  know  th.-  way  was  n.y  da.ly  prayer. 

\t    New   York  a    Mi.-hi^ian  d.drp.t.on  nu-t  nu'  and 
urm-d  n...  to  U-.-onu-  a  .•a..didat.-.      I  had  sanl  that  I 
euuld  iniauMU..  no  conditions  that  wouUl  make  it  nooc.- 
sarv  for  .n.-  to  do  m..     And  I  d.-fern-d  a  d.r.sion      Ou 
mv'wav  honu.  to  Sault  Str.  Marie  I  was  asked  to  stop  at 
Lausinjr  when-  a  n-eeption  and  hanqnet  had  Inen  ar- 
ran^.d   in  inv  honor.     At    Lansinj:  the-  situation  wa 
,„ad.  very  phiin.     Then-  se^.ned  to  In-  a  real  demand 
for  inv  s..rviees  as  a  eandidate.     My  phys.e.an  told  n.e 
it  would  kill  u.e  to  jro  into  a  ea.npaipi  in  the  then  eon- 
dition  of  n.v  health.     1  told  him  kill  or  no  k.ll,  I  would 
run       It  wiis  late.     Other  eandidates  had  Ihtu  at  work 
for 'months.     1  went  from  eounty  to  county  speakinc; 
from  ten  to  twenty  times  a  day.     (Ireat  erowds  eame  to 
hear  me  and  to  wele..me  me  home.     1  told  them  the 
heart's  truth  ahout  everything.     Kvery  day  and  ottu 
at  ni«ht  I  sutferod  intense  pain,  but  ihe  pain  seemed  to 
be  a  ideasun-  when  lK>rne  for  a  frc-.Kl  cause      I  enjoyed 
?^.  e  inpai^ni  and  once  in  it  I  tried  to  justify  the  .^rk 
uf  n.v  friemls  by  puttin,;  every  pound  ot  strength  I  had 
into  the  tii:ht.      It  was  tine. 


FOR  »<FTTi:i:  TinxOS  I\  THE  STATE 


309 


I  won  (hi'  noniiuation  fi»r  (Jovonior,  hut  was  defeated 
for  el('«-tioii. 

I  was  vf-rv  liappv.  To  iiic  the  interpretntion  was  that 
I  hud  -treii^th  ciionjrh  to  iir  ke  tlic  ti^'ht,  defeat  certain 
apeneies  and  sow  Med  for  puhlic  ripeiiinjr  and  whole- 
some harv(  ~t  hy  and  hy,  hut  not  enou^'h  to  po  on  with 
life's  hattles  until  I  had  n-sted.  reeuperated  and  driven 
out  the  juiifrie  poisons  that  >rripp«'d  me.  Now  I  was 
freed  so  as  to  U>  allowed  to  do  thi.s. 

Wars  are  not  always  won  hy  single  hattles,  any  more 
than  life's  work  is  done  hy  lone  aeliievements.  One 
very  often  wins  when  he  app<'ars  at  the  time  to  lose.  In 
the  essences  tlie  thing  is  to  offer  to  serve.  There  is  a 
heavy  load  to  carry;  perhaps  a  puhlie  hurden.  You 
offer  eagerly,  willingly  to  take  it  up  and  lK>ar  it.  The 
task  is  given  to  another.  Therein  is  the  resjM)nsihiIitv; 
the  exaction.  The  only  thing  you,  who  have  heen  re- 
jected at  the  time,  must  do,  is  to  be  ready  to  offer 
fre<'ly  and  unselfishly  again  to  serve. 

That  the  puhlic  was  slow  to  b'lieve  what  was  charged 
against  my  opponent  is  to  the  credit  of  the  people;  to 
their  fairness  and  sense  of  justice.  They  really  thought, 
or  a  great  many  did,  that  the  stories  were  libels  and 
pure  campaign  fiction.  Now  they  know  Ix'tter.  I  have 
ever  found  the  public  ready  to  be  more  than  generous 
and  just.  Like  the  wholesome  individual,  all  it  wishes 
is  to  see  the  right  way  and  it  will  take  it. 

Soon  after  this  election  occurred,  in  the  fall  of  1914, 
I  was  invited  to  speak  at  many  important  places  in 
Michigan  and  elsewhere.  Everywhere,  including  Lans- 
ing, I  was  greeted  by  larger  and  kindlier  audiences  than 
I  ever  had  spoken  to  before.  It  was  as  if  it  had  begun 
to  dawR  upon  the  public  that  I  had  tried  to  render  a 
service  and  they  sought  to  give  mc  belated  appreciation. 


i 


:no  TlIK  IKON   lirSTKU 

Tl.at    was    ni.no...-...-.rv.    iK-auM.    Mi.-hipan    has   pivcn 
„,,  „KU.y  honors  au.l  alvvavs  has  rwnnxmviX  mv  In^yond 

"'shirrtlTaftrr   I   w-nt   into  .Inhn>   Hopkins  nospital 
at    Haltin.or...   intnlu.lin^^  tr..atn..-..t   thrrr   w.th   .,ua.l 
,,„.,i,„,  an.i  prunin.'  p.-an  tn-s  in  sonthrrn  Ccnrpa 
wh..r..  1  iK-hml'  t..  a  litth-  Muh  of  .Oos.,  hnc  fru-nds  and 
wh.r..  al>..  w.  hav..  a  hunp.low.      Mn-h  Ix-n-ht  .nmv  to 
;„:    i„    a    phvsi..al    s..n.o.     Th.-n    Mrs.    ()sWn    am     I 
.t„rt..l  for  the  l»auan.a-IV-ili.'  Exposition,  via  tho  1  an- 
,„„a  Canal.     On  tho  stoamrr,  in  California  and  evory- 
whor.'  I  apiHarcd,  I  was  trrat.d  with  tl.u  ^-rnorous  oon- 
richTation'and    kindlin..ss    that    only    th.   truly   md^ 
,,,„ac.nt  and  spirit.-d  Atn-ri-an  cit...nry  knows  how  to 
how.     I  was  ;.sp....ially  phased  with  .ny  r..o..pt.on  when 
I  s,K>k.>  at  the  rnivrrsity  of  Missonn;  th.  \n..v^^ty 
(M„h  of  Chi(.ap>;  Th..  National  C.<'op-aph.<-  S.KM.ty  at 
Washinpton;  and  th.  (•hi..apo  (W-^rraphu-  S.km.  y. 

Wh.-n  tho  dissolving  i.-o  and  snow  p<-rm.t cd  1  apam 
hnriod  n.vsolf  in  tho  wilds.     At  Dtn-k  Island,  n.  tho  St. 
Marv's  Hivor,  I  disoovorod  what  all  thoso  to  whom    ho 
,natt"or  has  h-on  prosc-ntod,  aproo  '^j*"^;"'"^'^.^"  ;/,  ,^; 
mvsterv  of  lunutiosity  in  Hrotlios  and  othor  anunal  hfe. 
i;  is  producM.d  hy  on/ymos.  is  ono  hundrod  per  cent 
in  offioionov   as  oomparod   with   tittoon   por  cent    for 
eloctrioitv.     It  is  ontiroly  possihlo  that  onzymic  light 
may  \^  dovolo,>od  to  ho  of  praotioal  sorv'ice  to  mankind 
and  eommoroially  vahiablo. 

I  am  studvinp  tho  aurora  boroalis  and  tho  aiuora 
\ustralis.  To  sovoral  soiontists  I  have  suhm.ttod  my 
disoovorios  and  th(-orio.  oonoorninp  tho  auroras  and 
thov  have  lioon  interested  and  encouraging. 


CHAPTER  XL 


IN    CONCL18ION 

IITAD  boon  widely  incntioiu'd  for  tho  prrsidmcv. 
The  Chirarfo  Ereiun,/  J'osf  and  othor  proruinoiit 
Iii^'h-prado   nowspajH-rs   prosontod   ni.v   lunno  for 
considoratioii.     Tlicro  was  rnon-  ovidonco  of  conifortinjf 
coufidouco  and  oncourajrinj;  M'wf  in   nic  pivon  hv  a 
public    wider   tban    my   cbanninir   eirele   of   i)orsonal 
friends.     In  tbe  autumn  of  10 Is  I  InH-ame  a  candidate 
in  the  primaries  for  tlie  Republican   nomination  for 
United  States  Senator  from  Michigan.     My  war  work 
had  taken  every  moment  of  my  time.     I  bad  held  over 
four  hundred  war  meetinpfs,  wifbouf  other  com|K>nsation 
than  the  deep  satisfaction  one  has  in  actively  manifest- 
ing a  desire  to  serve.     I  nreived  nearly  fifty  thoiisand 
votes,  but  was  defeated.     The  younper  nien  to  whom  I 
meet  appealed  were  oflF  to  the  war:  almost  two  hundred 
thousand  of  them.     I  felt  my  defeat  not  at  all,  because 
T  had  only  offered  to  try  to  carry  a  big,  spinous  load  for 
Michigan.     They  gave  it  to  another. 

The  reaction  of  America  to  the  conditions  created  bv 
the  world's  war  followed  quickly  a  first  dim  sensing  and 
then  a  clear  perception  that  the  permanence  of  the  social 
structure  builded  here  by  the  peoi)le  for  themselves 
was  seriously  imperiled.  Xo  matter  what  designation 
of  word  or  phrase  was  used  to  etch  this  in  the  composite 
mind  there  was  a  feeling,  all  of  a  sudden,  that  safetv 
and  insurance  of  iudcjM'ndrnt  government  demanded 

311 


,• 


312 


THE  IKOX  UUNTER 


our  particii.atioi.  in  the  war.     To  uost  people  making 
the  world  "  saft-  f<-r  dciiKM-racy  "  meant  next  to  nothing 
taufriWle.     They  instinctively  felt  tliat  the  success  of  the 
attempt  to  impose  the  derman  system  upon  us  meant  the 
death  of  cherished  id<"als  and  fra^'rant  hopes.     It  did 
not  matter  to  them  whether  our  government  is  more  or 
less  eHI.-ient  than  an  auto<'racy:  it  is  their  government, 
is  what  thev  wish  and  make  of  it  good  or  had,  and  there 
is  deep  confidence  that  in  time  it  will  be  perfect  enough 
for  mundane  purpf)ses  if  the  people  are  not  molested  in 
progress  by  the  in.n  hand  of  a  selfishness  so  singularly 
personified  as  to  be  impossible  of  coming  under  their 
control.     Many  even  realized  that  in  the  German  Eni- 
pire  was  an  otficiency  that  permitted  a  scientific  exploi- 
tation of  the  people  to  the  last  degree;  even  compre- 
hending meticulous  human  care  in  order  to  conserve  and 
selfishlv  utilize  their  man  power.     And  at  the  same 
time  they  also  knew  that  in  the  United  States  there  are 
strata  beginning  with  the  economic  enslavement  of  cer- 
tain workers  and  ending  in  irresjx.nsible  and  lightly 
l)ound   economic   s(K'ial   groups.     Perhaps   our   masses 
could  not  have  made  an  analysis  and  framed  a  deduction. 
Their  intuition  springing  from  fountains  of  self-pres- 
er\-ation  bid  them  unite  against  the  Germans  with  co- 
herent eiTcctivt'iiess.     At  the  bottom  of  it  all  the  masses 
in  our  country  feel  in  terms  varying  from  the  nebulous 
to  the  concrete  that  this  is  their  cimntry  and  that  they 
are  resiMinsible  for  it  and  that  it  can  only  endure  if  they 
protect  it  against  foes  from  without  or  within.     This  is 
the  guaranty  of  intelligent  |K)pular  will  where  any  of 
the  genius  of  government  is  possessed.     It  will  be  our 
protection  from  the  plague  of  lH)lshevism  and  even  de- 
mands that  all  parties  di'iiionstrat.  an  ability  to  conduct 
the  all'airs  of  government  .-aiiely  if  they  are  to  be  eu- 


IN  roNci.rsiox 


313 


trusted  with  it  for  anv  lonj;  jK'riod.     Somehow  the  sense 
of  order  iiiid  proportion  attends  this  sense  of  possession. 
The  people  see  aln^ut  them  in  the  universe  the  applica- 
tion of  the  laws  of  order  in  the  diurnal  procession,  the 
ooniinp  and  going  of  the  nioiiths,  the  rising  and  setting 
of  the  sun,  the  recurrence  of  moon  and  stars.     IVrhaps 
they  could  not  discourse  philosophicallv  upon  these  l)cau- 
tiful  phenomena,  but  thev  liave  deeply  ingrained  the 
lessons  they  teach.     One  average  man  said  to  me  that 
the  so<-ialists  are   like   a   man   who   is   hungry   for  an 
apple  pie:  he  has  all  the  materials  of  flour,  shortening, 
apples,  spices,  sugar  and  the  tire  and  a  hunger,  hut  he 
cannot  make  an  apple  pie.      How  true  it  is.     To  \)c  ahle 
to  distinguish  those  who  can  perform  the  services  of 
government  safely  is  the  first  reipiisite  of  a  free  people 
and    popular   governmcj'n     Tncle    Sam    is    an    icono- 
graphic  individual  made      p  of  all  his  hundred  million 
parts;  and  there  are  more  parts  than  this,  though  not  all 
visible,  in  the  individual  unit.     Some  of  the  hundred 
million  of  Uncle  Sam  are  souls,  some  are  brains,  others 
are  lofty  urges  and  sentimental  desires;  some  are  legs 
and  arms  and  spine  and  heart  and  soul  and  liver  and 
spleen  and  so  on ;  some  are  eczema  and  psoriasis ;  some 
just  waste  material.     To  a  degree  the  individual  may 
elect  his  part  and  his  fuiiction ;  all  caimot,  because  some 
are  hopeless,   inert  derelicts.   oiR-rating  negatively  as 
more  or  less  dangerous  ferments.     But  after  all  the 
wholesome  parts  will  protect,  defend  and  keep  the  body 
of  the  nation  alive,  just  as  the  phagoi-ytes  and  their  aids 
expel  pathogenic  germs  in  the  individual  and  cure  dis- 
ease.    In  the  individual   there   is  a  time  limit  fixed 
iH'vond  which  there  can  be  only  disintegration  with  no 
hope  of  tangible  physical  renewal.     In  the  national  en- 
ti  y  tli.rc  is  complete  renewal  every  thirty-seven  years, 


314 


TIIK  IKON  TirXTEU 


wliiVh  i>  thp  avornirc  of  lonjrf'vity  amons  our  poopl<\  In 
that  lirs  flic  frrcat  linpc;  the  death  of  the  ajr<'»l ;  tlio 
birth  of  the  new  rssciicc  The  haln^  cries  lustily  at  birth 
as  the  old  man  moans  liis  departure.  We  do  not  know 
much  about  what  becomes  of  us,  nor  does  it  matter 
much  to  us  while  in  this  sphere.  It  is  ('omfortiuc:  to 
know  that  theoloi.'-iiins  and  scientists  are  one  in  pro- 
claimiiifT  immortality.  Thomas  Crowder  Chamberlin, 
head  of  the  department  of  geolojry  at  the  Tniversity  of 
Chicago,  chief  anionjj  the  cosmic  philosophers  of  the 
world,  in  the  closinjr  parafiraph  (»f  his  reccTit  book  ujwn 
the  "  Orifiin  of  the  Karth  "  says: 

"  It  is  our  (Professor  rhamborlin's)  personal  view  that  what 
wc  repird  as  merely  iniitcrial  is  at  the  same  time  spiritual, 
tliat  what  we  try  to  rciluce  to  the  mechanistic  is  at  tlic  same 
time  voliliutial,  but  whether  this  he  so  or  not,  the  emerpeiico 
of  wliat  wc  call  th<'  livin>r  fmm  the  inortraiiic.  ami  the 
emergence  of  what  wt^  call  the  psychic  from  the  physiol(>^ric, 
were  at  ftiice  the  transccn<lcjit  and  the  transcendental  fea- 
tures of  the  earth's  evolution." 

This  is  beautiful.  It  is  an  admission  by  a  fjrcat 
scientist  of  the  insutficiency  of  the  biunan  mind.  Many 
other  intellectuals  are  brave  enoujrb  and  fair  enough  and 
sufficiently  without  the  dominating;  ego  to  agree  with 
Professor  Chamberlin.  Thus  are  the  profotind  minds 
grouping  to  convey  the  linal  fact  that  where  nnin  ends 
(jiod  l)egins.  Substimed  with  religion  it  creates  a  per- 
fumed hope.  And  yet  man  is  so  human  and  cowardly 
at  times  and  stiporseltish.  While  the  war  was  going  on 
mankind  rushed  towards  (Jod  as  in  the  resurgent  days 
of  the  Crusades;  peace  has  como  and  will  man  forget 
Ciod  when  he  is  not  territied  by  necessity  for  higher 
help^     It  has  been  ever  so. 

To  justify  the  war  we  must  rebuild  the  world  :  nor 


I 

I 


My  fatlier 
George  Augustus  Osborn 


IX  COXCLUSIOX 


315 


must  we  hide  the  fact  from  view  that  man's  selfishness 
man's  inhumanitv.  man's  intolerance  have  created  the 
conditions  that  have  sprung  all  the  wars  forever  and 
ever.     Is  it  unkind  or  unjust  or  unfair  to  recall  that 
within  the  brief  cvde  of  a  century  Great  Britain,  Rus- 
sia, trance  and  Italy,  not  to  forgt^t  our  part  too,  have 
sei/ed  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  surface  of  the  earth  ? 
Stibjf     peoples  in  India,  Burma,  Trans-Caspia,  Africa 
^Madagascar  and  elsewhere  numbering  a  billion  souls 
have  been  wrung  for  head  tax.s.     Just  a  little  time  ago 
.reat  Britain,  at  the  time  of  the  Sepoy  uprising,  loaded 
live  Indians  into  cannon  and  shot  them  out  for  schreck- 
lichkeit.     :More  recently  we  gave  the  IHoros  the  water 
cure  for  the  same  example.     Within  a  half  dozen  years 
the  inhuman  atr-x-ities  in  the  Belgian  Congo  perpetrated 
by  the  Belgian  (Jovernment,  with  no  madness  of  war 
to  cause  insane  acts,  shocked  the  world.     Xow  it  would 
do  no  good  to  call  attention  to  these  better  forgotten 
blood  marks  were  it  not  necessary  to  determine  whether 
an  indictment  of  a  present  people  can  be  made  for  the 
crimes  of  their  progenitors.     We  of  to-dav  cannot  be 
to  blame  unKs  we  condone  and  continue  the  sins  of 
yesterday.     Consequently  upon  this  verv  dav  we  are 
called  upon  practically  to  decide  whether  we'will  per- 
mit to  continue  the  era  of  intolerance  and  antagonism 
or  supplant  it  with  a  period  of  tolerance,  justice,  coop- 
eration and  sincere  goodwill.     Platitudes  will  not  be 
sufficient  for  the  stomach  of  our  people  no  matter  how 
musical  they  may  sound  to  the  senses.     There  must  be 
a  clear  admission  that  the  human  derelicts  of  to-dav  are 
the  blighted  usufruct  of  the  injustice  of  vesterdav  •  the 
economic  unfairness.  '  '  ' 

Xo  brighter  ray  illumes  the  world's  political  firma- 
ment than  our  policy  in  the  Thilippines.     We  really 


I  ■ 

II 


316  THE  IRON  HUNTER 

seem  to  have  dono  more  in  two  decades  to  advance  a 
less  apt  people  there  than  the  British  have  aehu-ved  in 
India  duriuj?  more  than  a  century.  It  is  not  intended 
that  thes.^  comparisons  shall  he  odious,  for  we  have  done 
iM.tter  with  our  suzerain  peoples  than  with  many  of  our 
riti/ens  at  home.  It  is  surely  demanded  that  we  shall 
do  more  than  talk  our  best;  we  must  do  our  best;  not  m 
spots;  everywhere. 

After  all  there  is  progress,  even  if  the  world  does 
fall  over  the  edge  of  the  precipice  every  so  often  and 
flounder  in  what  appears  to  be  abysmal  despair.     It  is 
not  satisfvinp  to  survey  the  social  growth  by  decades, 
but  if  we  will  begin  with  the  Java  man  and  his  Neander- 
thal contemporary  and  carry  our  vision  on  to  the  Cro- 
niagnon  and  the  Vazimba  and  then  on  to  Lloyd  George, 
Clemenceau,  Wilson  and  Roosevelt,  we  can  have  some 
f(K>d  of  assurance  that  the  growth  tendency  will  con- 
tinue until  we  shall  have  to  scratch  more  deeply  to  un- 
cover the  carnivorous  cave  dweller.     It  tcx)k  eras  for  the 
eohippus  to  become  a  horse  and  the  dodo  to  become  an 
aeroplane.     Perhaps  our  greatest  concern  comes  from 
a  tendency  to  regard  ourselves  and  our  times  too  seri- 
ously     If  I  were  to  endeavor  to  coagulate  wisdom  into  a 
short' sentence  it  would  be :     "  Do  your  best  and  do  not 
quarrel  with  Providence."  ,    ,     i     • 

The  dearest  hope  of  mankind  lies  "  beyond  the  hori- 
zon "  of  the  present.     We  shall  attain  it. 


PBIKTSD  IN  THI  BNrTTO  «TATK8  OF  AltniCA 


[HE  following  f»gt,  contain  wlTertitemenU  of  a 
few  of  the  MtcmilUn  book,  on  kindred  lubjecu 


COLONEL  ROOSEiELTS  OWlf  STORY  OF  HIS  LIFE 

Theodore  Roosevelt:  An  Autobiography 

lnuittattd,  ho,  $j.oo 
••  The  vigor  and  direcUiett  for  which  be  a  juitly  .dmireJ  .how  them- 
w!".h  '"  ""'  '«°»"'"  "!  "»  book.  .  .  .  tmph.,K.lly  ^.d  „„»..uk.. 
hi,  the  author  ha.  .Umped  b.mMlf  on  every  p.,e  of  b..  book.  ,nd  no 
reader  de.irin«  a  better  acquaintance  with  hini  will  be  disappointed  m  tbia 
ample   autobiugraphy.'  —  The  iJial. 

"  A  book  of  extraordinary  personal  fa«:in.tion.  ...  A  record  of 
Theodore  RooMvelf.  intemal  and  external  life,  a  .urvey  of  bit  boyhood 
hi.  youth,  and  hi.  manhood.  A  book  of  bi.  idea..  bi>  ideal.,  and  hu 
practical   outlook   on   life,  a  book   that   reflecU  hi.  temperament.." 

—  Boiton   titn%ng    Irantcrifl. 

TWO  NOTABLE  BIOGRAPHIES  OF  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 

Theodore^Roosevelt:  The  Boy  and  the  Man 

By  JAMES  MORGAN 

Hltutralid,   timo,  $i.jo 

Jn^ZnTlC  -''^^'  •"'*'"•  "•^  ^'  *"  ""-"•  •  '•^'  "f  •«*«•"  «•, 
r^dT/.h  K  "T  '^'TV"  '"""  '"  ""'  "''"  "*  •  "«  "ho.e  energy 
and  fa.th  have  illu.trated  before  the  world  the  q>irit  of  Young  America/- 

"The   ideal   biography   of   Prewdent   Roosevelt."  —  AT^   York    Times. 

in"^\T"'T*  *'«°''"»'^  "-J  *'♦»>  fnthu.ia.m  the  very  dramatic  scene. 
m  a  life  of  unusual   originality."- PAi/a^fe/^fcio  North  Amenctn. 

Theodore  Roosevelt:  The  Citizen 

By  JACOB  RIIS 

Cloth,   lime,  t.6o 

everi' iL'^'irJ'r  *•"  ''"'^  '*  '"'"''"  •'"«"»'  •"««  conviction  in 
ZtZ  -Z'^IL  •""'"•'"•  "°!:  '°°  """•  »"*  force,  and  influence,  which 
lifted  Theodore  Roosevelt  to  the  Presidency,  as  the  qualities  that  make  hi. 
personality  and  underlie  hi.  character.  I,  i.  .  refreshing  and  .timuUtin^ 
picture -one  that  will  carry  encouragement  to  every  reader  whoj  hear  "! 

S"i.i;^.-;rs;;vxr  ~""''''°"  -•*  '^^'-^^ '-"-  - 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

Publlthew     64-M  Fifth  kwmw     Hew  York 


Marcus  Alonzo  Hanna: 

His  Life  and  Woik 


By  HERBERT  CROLY 
Author   o/   "  The   PromiM   of   American   Life." 

lllutlroled,  Ciolh,  »t  o.  Ii.no 

In  prrrwrinK  the  material  for  this  bioRraphy  a  great  deal  of  time  and 
care  was  uptnt  in  Ihr  allemiit  to  make  it  complete  and  accurate.  In  the 
first  place  an  exhaustive  collection  was  made  nf  all  documents  hearing  upon 
Manna's  life  and  work,  including  all  his  available  correspondence.  The 
material  obtained  from  this  source  was  not,  however,  of  the  same  valuf 
and  importance  that  it  fre'iuently  is  in  the  case  of  prominent  men.  Mr. 
Itanna  was  a  leader  rather  than  a  statesman.  The  most  criticiil  part  of 
his  work  was  transactecl  by  means  of  private  personal  conferences,  and  an 
account  of  his  life  would  necessarily  be  very  inadequate  which  was  not 
based  to  some  extent  upon  a  knowlrdfii-  of  what  occurred  at  some  of  these 
conferences.  In  ortler  to  meet  this  nenl.  all  of  Mr.  Manna's  associates  in 
business  and  politics  were  interviewed  and  statements  of  then  relations 
with  Mr.  Manna  otilaineil.  Mr.  Croly  has  made  it  his  main  obiect  to  pre- 
pare a  good  narrative.  Mr.  Manna  was  a  man  of  action,  who  was  doing 
things  all  his  life  and  whose  career  was  .i  stuces«ion  of  surprises  not 
merely  to  the  public,  but  to  his  friends  and  to  himself.  Mis  life  affords 
conseiiuenlly  the  material  for  a  innck  moving  si.ry,  and  every  other 
aspect  nf  it  has  been  subordinated  in  the  attempt  to  bring  out  this  value. 
The  book  is  not  about  Mr.  Mann.Vs  times  or  his  associates,  or  even  his 
opinions;  it  is  about  the  man  and  the  unfoldng  of  his  career.  The  man 
is  much  more  interesting  than  anything  or  any  succession  of  things  which 
he  accomplished  Me  made  a  vivid  personal  impression  on  his  contempo- 
raries, the  effect  of  which  is  gradually  wearing  off  because  his  work  did 
not    have    as    much    permanent    value    as    his    personality. 

"  An  interesting  and  instructive  study,  which  is  not  only  a  '  human 
document  '  but  incidentally  a  comprehensive  study  of  American  politics 
during  the  last  two  decades  of  the   nineteenth   century." —  \'ru'    Ynrk  Sun. 

"  A  biography  that  reads  like  historic  romance  ...  to  all  who  knew 
Senator  Hanna,  Mr.  Croly's  book  is  of  breathless  interest.  To  all  .Ameri- 
cans it  must  stand  as  an  invaluable  contribution  to  the  history  of  his  time; 
for   he   made   history."—  Philadelrhia   Public   Ledger. 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

Publisher*     64-M  Fifth  Aveniie     Hew  Tork 


TWO  NEW   BOOKS  ON   RUSSIA 


War  ar  d  Revolution  in  Russia.  1 914-191 7 

Bv  General  BASEL   GOURKO 

The  Ex-Chiif  of  the  Russian  Imperial  General  Staff 

III.  Cloth,  6",  $4.o» 
General  Gourko's  mctnnirs  are  c)f  real  historic  intere«'  Here  i»  a  rccor.l 
describinK  events  from  the  mobilization  of  the  Rl  ian  army  to  the 
lime  of  the  Tsar's  aUlication.  By  that  time  (fener;il  Gourko  had  rc- 
signed  and  had  been  arrcstctl  and  contmcd  in  the  fortress  of  St»  IVler 
and  Paul.  The  descriptions  of  battles  and  campaigns,  of  the  irucial 
winter  of  iqis-if>,  of  the  entry  into  Roumania.  are  the  first  to  be  printed 
from  the  point  of  view  of  a  general  on  the  .Id.  The  murder  of  Raspu- 
tin, the  political  changes  precedioK  the  revolution,  Kerensky's  first 
steps  in  Kovemment,  the  first  effects  of  the  u  solution  —  all  these  things 
are  faithfully  and  dispassionately  reix)rte<l.  The  book  is  dedicated  to 
the  general's  heroic  wife,  who  was  killed  when  the  Germans  shelled  a 
bandaging  station  behind  the  I  rench  lines. 

Recollections  of  a  Russian  Diplomat 

By  Baron  EUGEXE  DE  SCHELKING 

Itlustrakd,  $3.50 
Besides  being  an  amazing  and  stirring  story,  this  is  a  permanently  im- 
portant historical  diKument.  It  epitomizes  the  case  of  the  |)eople  and 
democratic  government  against  government  by  autocracies  and  sham- 
ming chancellories.  The  writer  esca|>ed  from  Russia  by  pawning  his 
wife's  jewels.  He  came  to  Canada  and  electrified  the  readers  of  Amer- 
ican papers  by  his  revelations  of  court  life  in  the  Balkans.  He  foresaw 
the  inevitable  end  of  monarchy  :  there  never  was  a  clearer  case  of  suicide. 
His  volume  o()ens  with  an  account  of  the  closing  years  of  the  reign 
of  Alexander  III;  then  comes  the  story  of  Nicholas  and  his  ministers. 
The  German  Emperor  and  his  relations  with  Nicholas,  the  leading 
actors  in  the  Balkan  affairs,  the  negotiations  preceding  Roumania's 
entrance  into  the  war,  the  conditions  of  the  court  under  the  influem  c 
of  Rasputin,  and  the  character  of  the  chief  ministers,  are  some  of  the 
topics  taken  up  in  the  different  chapters.  Finally  there  is  a  section 
discussing  the  course  of  the  Russian  Revolution. 


THE   MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

PKbUibsra  «4-««  riftb  kwvan*  Hew  T«rk 


TWO  NEW  BOOKS  ON  RSCON8TRUCTION 


Reconstruaion  and  National  Life 

By   CECIL   FAIRKIELU   LAVELL 

Cloth,  itmo 

The  purpose  of  Professor  Lavell's  ntw  volume  is,  primarily,  to  sug- 
gest and  illustrate  an  histnrital  approach  to  the  prohlcm  of  ri-con 
struction  in  Euroj)*-.     Professor  Lavell  will  be  remembered  u  author, 
with  Professor  Charles  E.  Payne,  of  "  Imperial  England,"  published 
in  the  fall  of  last  year. 

Problems  of  Reconstruction 

By   ISAAC    LIPPINCOTT 

Associate  Profcsiior  u(  Economics,  Washington  University 

Cloth,  nmo 

"  From  an  industrial  point  of  view  the  nations  at  war  are  con- 
fronted with  two  groups  of  problems.  Staled  briefly,  the  first  group 
contains  (juestions  of  concentrating  industrial  effort  largely  on  war 
production,  of  diverting  men.  materials  and  financial  resources  to  the 
essential  industries  and  of  curtailing  the  operations  of  .ill  the  rest,  of 
regulating  commerce  with  foreign  countries,  and  of  formulatint; 
policies  and  methods  for  the  accomplishment  of  these  ends.  In 
short,  this  is  principally  a  question  of  development  of  war  control 
with  all  that  this  implies.  Tl»e  second  group  of  problems  arises  out 
of  the  first.  It  involves  such  questions  as  the  dissolution  of  the  war 
organization,  the  remov:il  of  the  machinery  of  control,  the  restoration 
of  men,  funds,  and  materi.ils  to  the  industries  which  serve  the  uses 
of  peace,  and  the  reestablishment  of  norm-il  commercial  relations 
with  the  outside  world.  The  latter  are  post-war  problems.  Their 
prompt  solution  is  necessary  because  the  war  has  turned  industrial 
and  scjcial  life  into  new  channels,  and  because  it  will  be  necessary 
for  us  to  restore  the  normal  order  as  quickly  as  possible.  These 
brief  statements  outline  the  task  of  this  volume." 


THE   MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

PnhUilian  64-66  Tiftb  AvMoa  Vew  Tork 


